Attack on Giant Monsters
by Hikaru7
Summary: 845: Humanity celebrates the hundred years of peace and harmony behind the walls of their Fortress. However, the era of prosperity comes to an end when the Giant Monsters launch an unexpected attack. Eren is dreaming of joining the Explorers in order to see the Outside World with his own eyes, and to encounter the creatures feared as humanity's enemies. (manga spoilers)
1. Prologue

**Prologue: A Tale To You, Living Behind The Wall…**

**Human Or Monster?**

His back touched soft, white fur as he snuggled up against his companion. It was warm and comfortable. And safe. Even as he could hear the beating of iron hoofs against the ground, he knew that inside the den, there was nothing to fear. With him, he was protected.

Shouts and roars rang out in the forest, then at long last, they died down. The iron hoofs retreated. Whoever's victory it was, it couldn't be told. Whenever _they_ came, they never ventured out from the safety of their hiding place. He had told him it was dangerous.

"A tale!" he cried, daring to raise his voice once again.

"A tail indeed," his companion told him, moving his razor-like tail out of the small creature's reach. "Your skill of observation improves by the day. Mind you, my tail is rather sharp, so you'd better not touch it."

"No, a story."

"You want to hear a story, huh. What are you curious about?"

"Them," he replied.

"Fine," his companion said with a resigned sigh. "A story about humanity."

And so he was told a story about cruel beings, who treated his own kind as slaves, bringing about terrible destruction in the world they shared. He was told about wars fought for meaningless, foolish reasons: for the pursuit of even greater power, devouring whatever came in their way.

But he also learned about the Nameless Hero, who emerged from among his kind, gifted with a mysterious power that turned the endless wars around into their favour. What small number remained of humanity was driven back behind fortified walls, and his kind became feared for what they called the 'Giant Monsters'.

The world was divided: humanity lived inside the Fortress, and his kind dwelled outside in the Wilderness. However, peace did not rule for long, for there were humans who left the confines of the Walls, and kept returning to disturb their everyday lives outside. From time to time, a legion of men would come, riding iron-clad beasts – creatures belonging to his kind, but tamed by the humans, not even aware anymore of the humiliation of being used as mere tools.

He was told to fear and despise humans. Still, his young mind was curious to learn more about them, who lived behind walls, who appeared so terrible in the tales, as if they were heartless monsters. But his own naïve heart wanted to believe otherwise.

He didn't know at that time, that when he hatched from the dragon's egg, he was born for a purpose: to bring hope that the world could be restored to its former state, so that humanity and his own kind could share it again in peace and harmony. But for that purpose, he had to know the ones who were called his 'enemy'. He had to go out, and meet them someday…

"Did my tale bore you so much that you've fallen asleep on me, brat?" his companion asked in mild irritation.

He was awake, only trying to make his immature mind think about what he was told, and what remained untold, but it was like chasing butterflies by the riverside. Colourful images swept before his mind's eye, too swiftly for him to grasp or understand their full meaning. Of one thing, however, he felt absolutely certain.

"I want to see the Wall," he stated firmly.

"Well, that's a rather foolish request."

"Show me the Wall," he insisted, in spite of the rebuke he received.

"What a wilful little rogue you are," his companion chided him. "Fine. One day, I'll take you to the Wall," he promised, giving him a gentle nudge. "Once you finally grow proper limbs of your own. I can't carry you around the way you're now."

As he lay back in his comfortable place, he realized that the soft white fur was stained crimson. Slowly, he began to understand why, and it made him sad.

He never wanted to hurt anyone. He never wanted to be seen as a monster. Young as he was, he had already resolved as much.

* * *

**Next Chapter**

The ones seeking the truth behind the ideals, celebrated as humanity's heroes or condemned as foolish adventurers of the Outside – the Explorers are riding through the border town of Shiganshina. In the innocently glittering green eyes of the boy looking on, those brave soldiers are the embodiment of everything glorious in their present time. In the burning charcoal of his sister's eyes, they bring nothing but disturbance into their forthcoming days. In the cold blue gaze of the soldier passing by, there is no recognition of the past. In the mirror of dreaming violet eyes, disconnected in space and time, there is a reflection of both family and enemy…

**Those Who Keep Chasing Dreams**

**The Outsider &amp; The Outside**


	2. Dreams

**Those Who Keep Chasing Dreams**

**The Outsider &amp; The Outside**

Beneath him lay a land he recognized – the only land he had ever known, divided by the concentric circles of the three walls. Small parcels of cultivated earth, small patches of green forests, small houses with tiny windows and doors – even the grand castles of the inner district looked like toys placed on some vast tapestry, which kept on stretching far into a world unknown to him. Like the unmapped landscape it was, the outside appeared to his eyes as nothing more than blank space, shrouded in darkness from where the outermost wall marked out the boundary, enclosing him in a narrow world.

Yet, as he floated above that world, looking down upon it from the perspective of a bird, the sensation of flying filled him with a sense he had never experienced before.

_Freedom._

He was caught up in that unknown feeling, soaring higher and higher, until he experienced a sudden jolt, as if thunder had struck him, and he found himself dragged down towards the earth once again.

_Terror._

From the darkness surrounding the outside of the walls, a hand appeared, much larger than his own, and rested on top of the outermost wall – the wall which had been built strong and tall, but to him looked as fragile as if put together from a child's building blocks. That was when realization came to him like another lightning strike: humanity's last shelter was nothing more than a toy fortress, populated by dolls whose heads were filled with straw, whose chests were empty of a heart, and whose boastful words masked cowardice. They lived ignorant, they lived uncaring, and were content with such a life. But he felt something different.

_Anger._

He saw a room bright and luxurious – one he had never seen before. Discarded dolls lay around on the floor, as if soldiers lying dead on the battlefield. They would not stand up again – their will to fight had been broken. They never really wanted to fight in the first place, not that kind of battle – not against 'them'. He could hear the small voices of the lost ones, lamenting the choice they had made. There was no glory for the dead, who could never return to their homes, to the ones who once loved them. Their feelings were bitter.

_Regret._

Enclosed by a golden frame, a girl was combing her long hair, startled violet eyes looking directly into his own – was he the mirror, or was he the girl? She looked slightly familiar, although he had never seen her before. Her lips moved to form a word, but he only understood what her eyes spoke to him.

_Sorrow._

The girl held out the pendant resting on her chest, the pale orb resembling the full moon. It grew larger and larger, a veil of darkness eating it up until it diminished into a crescent. A scream sounded, like an echo coming from the depths of a dark well – was he the one inside, screaming? Cold walls surrounded him on all sides, enclosing him in a dark void, suffocating him, leaving him with only one thought.

_Despair._

~AoGM~

His eyes fluttered open to sunrays filtering through rustling leaves. He could feel heaviness on his chest, and wetness on his face. Was it raining? Where was he? Whose shadow was looming over him?

"Eren. It's getting late. We should head back home." A girl's voice. He didn't know why, but he expected something different. What was it again? He could not remember.

'_Were you sleeping out again, brat?'_ A different voice. _'You should come back inside the den. 'They' are coming out soon.'_

Eren jolted up, something grey and furry jumping and disappearing behind the figure who was kneeling beside him. Rubbing the haziness from his eyes, Eren saw that it was his sister Mikasa, a large heap of firewood fastened to the carrier on her back. From the top of the piled-up wood, a pair of round purple eyes looked down on him, while another, identical pair was peering out from behind Mikasa.

"Was Hans helping you out with the firewood?" Eren asked through a yawn, looking up at the small grey creature sitting on the pile.

"That one is Greta," Mikasa told him, her voice muffled by the deep red scarf pulled over her mouth. The only thing Eren could see from her pale face was the dark of her eyes, and the look in them told him that she must be quite angry. "We girls did all the work, while you boys were slacking off."

Hearing the reprimand, Eren hunched his shoulders sheepishly, while the small creature beside the girl began to curl into a ball of grey fur, looking like a sullen kitten. Eren looked around himself, not wanting to believe that he had failed to get any work done. His own pile of wood lay scattered beside the tree he had been lying beneath in sleep, and looking at one hand, he realized that he was holding onto a bunch of violet flowers. He must have gathered them earlier on the meadow. All evidence served to underline his sister's statement, and he was feeling bad about that, but he just couldn't remember how he ended up falling asleep.

"Somehow... I feel like I had the weirdest of dreams..." he mumbled as he got onto his feet, not really wanting to accept Mikasa's help. It wasn't really unusual for him to have dreams that left him confused once he woke up from them, but each time, he would find it difficult to recall what they were about.

"Don't go to sleep in the open like that," Mikasa told him as she gathered up the meagre amount of firewood Eren had collected, fastening the bunch to the boy's carrier and helping it onto his back. "It's getting cold. If you get stuck in a long dream, you might end up dead."

"Geez, thanks." Eren was often taken aback by the harsh things his sister would say while keeping such a straight face. He thought it was stupid of her to worry about him to such an extent.

"These kind of things do happen, you know," Mikasa continued as they walked through the meadows, towards the houses at the town's edge. "That's why you should keep the wing on you all the time. If you lost it, you should ask Father to give you another."

"Who believes in such tales?" Eren snorted indignantly. "I'm not a kid anymore, so I don't need to keep such a childish thing as the wing. I'm not afraid of the dark, or the bad dreams."

"You're just trying to act brave. When you woke up just now, you were crying."

"I weren't!" Eren denied, although now he began to understand why he could feel his face wet: those were tears.

"Were you having _that_ dream again?" Mikasa asked in a soft, quiet voice as they entered among the buildings of the town.

"I can't remember," Eren replied evasively, not wanting to admit that it was something that stirred him up in a way he could not understand. The images in his dream were fleeting, but the emotions stayed inside his chest, making him feel almost as if he were really sick. But he didn't want to admit that. He didn't want to seem weak. He didn't want to seem mad.

They arrived at the town square, with the market at the side and the fountain in the middle. A group of soldiers belonging to the division of the Rangers were loitering around with their water-type partners.

"Don't tell Father," Eren quickly said to Mikasa, knowing the girl's habit of telling on him, "that I'm having those dreams again..."

"What kind of dreams, kiddo?" A soldier from the Rangers walked out unexpectedly from an alley, approaching them with rather wobbly steps. He leaned down to have a closer look at Eren, a wide grin spreading on his face. "Don't tell me you're becoming a man already, little Eren?"

"It's none of your business, you stinky old geezer!" Eren told him, covering his nose against the stench of booze coming from the man. The soldier only laughed off the insult, which only made Eren glare at him even harder. "Are you guys neglecting your duties again?"

Eren had known the man since he was a small child. His name was Hannes, and since he was wearing the red uniform of the Rangers, with the crest showing two rose-heads, his job was supposed to be to keep watch on the Walls, but most of the time, Eren would see him and his group lazing around on the square, drinking and playing cards. That day was no exception, either. The only difference was that the man looked even more drunk than usual.

"Tomorrow's the day of the centenary," Hannes reminded them with a carefree air. "What's wrong with some early celebration?"

"Yo, Eren! Care to join us?" one of the Rangers sitting at the fountain called to them, holding a large mug in his hand. His companion, a round mouse-like creature, was lying sprawled at his feet, strange-coloured bubbles escaping its mouth at each hiccup.

"What?" Eren stared in wide-eyed astonishment and indignation as he noticed Hannes's own partner teetering about, the shell in his small hand filled with something that could only be red wine. "Even your creatures are drunk?"

"They can't live on water all the time," Hannes gave a good-humoured chuckle, his face flushed. Eren could feel his own head becoming red with rage.

"So you're not only slacking off during watch, but you're also low enough to drag your partners down to your own level," Eren said, unable to hold back his displeasure at the sight. "You're all really the worst!"

Hannes only blinked back at him, as if not understanding why it would make the boy so upset. Eren could feel something creeping up from the pits of his stomach. It was burning his throat so bad that tears were beginning to form in his eyes again. He turned and wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Come now, why don't you kids just sit with us soldiers, and play some cards?" Hannes said in a soothing voice, his hand falling on Eren's head to pat it gently. "Cheers one up and helps pass the time..."

"I'm not a kid!" Eren spat at him, slapping away the soldier's hand. He spun around, facing the much taller man again. His tears were already dried up by the anger that burned in his eyes. "And you're not a soldier! You're not even ready to fight!"

"Nope," Hannes replied after a sigh, then made a gesture behind the two children. "It's been already a hundred years since those walls stand tall and sturdy. They don't even need much maintenance. And as for the monsters lurking around outside, Umimaru and I have seen plenty of them before from atop the wall, so you can believe me when I tell you that none of them can make even as much as a scratch on this mighty construction."

His confidence wasn't enough to dissolve the sense of bad premonition Eren was feeling.

"Look around, Eren," Hannes continued, now pointing out the busy marketplace. Stalls were set up, selling all kinds of meat, fruits and vegetables. "Humanity is prospering within the Fortress. We have plenty of resources, we managed to domesticate many of the creatures living inside, and so people are content."

He bent down to pick up his partner Umimaru, the otter-like creature, who beamed on the children, two sharp teeth showing from his mouth. Other than that, he looked completely harmless. Like a wind-up toy that happened to move and make noises. Something about the thought made Eren feel uneasy. He was beginning to remember fragments of his dream, about the toys scattered on the floor. Many of them looked like such creatures. Because of the foolishness of humanity, were they doomed to share the same fate, too?

"These walls allow us to live a peaceful life," Hannes continued. "And I can see no reason why fear should play a part in it."

"That stupid way of thinking is exactly what makes humanity look no better than cattle!" Eren burst out. "Only animals are ignorant enough to be content, even when led to the slaughterhouse! Would you still feel that way, once they broke down the walls and came in?"

The volume of his voice made a couple of heads turn towards their direction, a look of shock and disapproval forming on the faces, as if he had just broken some taboo. And in fact, he had done just that: no-one inside the Fortress was allowed to express displeasure with the way of life that was granted to the citizens. Questioning the endurance of the Walls equalled questioning the stability of the Royal Government itself, and whoever dared to voice their thoughts in such a manner would be considered an heretic. Or even worse...

Eren could feel the eyes of the people on him, their gazes stamping into his flesh. He could hear their whispering voices, their words kindling the flames inside his chest. He could imagine their mouths curling up in a mocking sneer as they talked about him, as if he weren't even there. As if he weren't even someone deserved to be treated as a human being...

"_Isn't that the Jägers' boy?"_

"_Poor Carla, I always felt sorry for her..."_

"_Even though his father is a doctor..."_

"_Well, there's a sickness even Dr Jäger can't cure."_

"_But for his only son to end up like that..."_

"_Delusional."_

"_Mad."_

Eren's hands clenched into fists, the flowers he was holding onto squeezed tight. Hans popped his head out from the hood of his cloak.

'_Should we wipe them?'_ the small creature's voice sounded in an eerie whisper in his ear. _'Paint them red?'_

Eren's lips quivered slightly, before they moved to form silent words. Just then, he could feel a tug at his sleeve, dragging him out of the swamp of his dark thoughts, before those could swallow him in whole.

"Eren. Stop it," Mikasa said, sharp warning in her voice. "Let's go home."

She gave a nod to the Rangers before she began to walk away, not letting go of Eren as she led him towards an alley, intending to bring him as far away from the harsh tongues and prying eyes as she could manage. But Eren yanked at her hand and turned back to the soldiers again.

He was remembering now, the image of the large hand looming above the Walls, how the Fortress looked so fragile from that perspective, and somehow he knew it was the truth. It didn't matter to him if everyone was looking upon him as mad – in his eyes that narrow, confined world around him was the one full of madness.

"You just keep praising the Walls, and underestimating 'them'. But what if 'they' are actually powerful enough to blow this whole Fortress to pieces with a single gust, as if it were made out of straw?" Eren told the rather astonished soldiers, not caring that he was shouting. "Until even a single one of 'them' remains out there, this thing you call 'peace' is nothing but illusion! If you prefer to sit on your asses rather than going out and fight 'them', so be it, but at least do your job and BE READY TO PROTECT THIS TOWN!"

Having said his fair share, Eren finally followed Mikasa out of the busy square. The soldiers shook their heads, then returned to their drinks and games. Hannes scratched his head, heaving a great sigh as he looked down on Umimaru.

"Don't tell me... This kid's honestly thinking about joining the Explorers?"

~AoGM~

Eren followed Mikasa into the dark alley, remaining in sullen silence as he looked at the girl's back. Greta's round eyes were fixed on him with a blank expression, but to Eren it appeared as if the creature were looking down on him in disdain. He made a face, then turned his head to the side.

"Eren," Mikasa suddenly spoke again, without turning back to face him. "You should stop saying such things."

"But I saw it..." Eren said in a barely audible mumble. "It can happen anytime."

"You know what becomes of those who talk like that," Mikasa replied, sounding just like his mother.

The loud, resounding voice of a preacher came from somewhere above, calling to the townspeople to worship the Walls, to offer praise and gratitude to the guardian spirits that protected humanity for a century now. Eren hated that constant reminder. And he was anything but grateful for the existence of the walls. Sometimes he wished they would just fall down. Then, humanity would have no other choice but to abandon their illusions, and face what lay in the Outside...

"They get banished," Mikasa finished in a grim voice. "And that's worse than death sentence."

"I don't think so," Eren retorted. "Rather than being banished, I'd go out there of my own will."

"You still haven't given up on joining them, have you?"

"At least they're real soldiers, not just a bunch of drunkards."

"Mother will be furious if she finds out."

"She doesn't have to know!" Eren snapped, quickening his pace to overtake his sister. "When I'm old enough, I can decide for myself, without needing her approval."

"You'll break her heart."

"I don't care," Eren replied, facing her once again, determination burning in his green eyes. "I won't live cooped up inside here like cattle!"

Mikasa opened her mouth to make a reply, but just then, the deep toll of a bell sounded, drowning out the preacher's words. The expression in Eren's eyes changed in an instant.

"They're back!" he said, excitement in his voice. "Humanity's heroes have returned!"

Eren turned back towards the town square and broke into a run, and Mikasa followed him, because she felt like if she were ever to lose sight of him, something bad would happen.

~AoGM~

With a loud, grating sound, the gate opened, and the Explorers filed in, riding their horses in a slow gait. First, the carts were pulled in, the injured stretched out on them, both the humans and the creatures that fought by their sides. The number of the injured ones was low, but considering the shortness of that latest expedition, it still counted as something significant. At least, this time they had not lost any of their soldiers, although they did lose quite a number of their 'equipment', as some of the creatures they brought with them had to be sacrificed for the sake of humanity. But nobody counted their deaths as serious loss – after all, they were by purpose expendable. They could be replaced by hundreds of others, thanks to the advanced technology which allowed for the breeding of an army of those mostly genderless creatures, creating an infinite number of clones. The process was still rather costly, but as long as the Explorers enjoyed the support of the government, they got all the resources to provide for the necessary equipment they needed.

That was how the military in general looked upon those creatures: nothing more than replaceable equipment. Creatures to follow orders. Creatures to be trampled underfoot. Creatures without names. But to the soldiers who often found their lives greatly dependent on them, those creatures had become over time more than mere tools: they proved to be reliable comrades, friends even, in the harsh environment of the Wilderness, the great open expanse of land lying beyond the Fortress.

The Explorers were greeted by loud cheers as a crowd began gathering on the streets where they proceeded. The mere thought of fighting Giants seemed to excite the minds of the people, although most of them gave little consideration to the real purpose of going outside and mapping out the unknown land. Since many of the citizens were content with their everyday lives, the stories about the feats of the Explorers were nothing more to them than distraction: they would enjoy the gruesome tales they brought with them about the monsters dwelling outside, knowing that they were safe from any harm inside the Walls. They would treat the Explorers as heroes, but would only look upon them as ones playing their roles in a tale, and even if they met a bad ending, people didn't care much. There was still many of them. Only their families mourned their deaths with honest tears.

"Moses?" An old, scrawny woman broke apart from the crowd, her eyes searching frantically the row of returning soldiers, her voice thin with despair. "Where's my son? Moses!"

The Commander, a man with a weary expression on his face, gestured towards one of the carts, and the woman rushed to its side, looking upon his son: injured, but alive. Tears of relief began pouring from her eyes.

"It's good to have a family to return to," a tall soldier with a thin beard and moustache remarked.

"It's really for the best not to have any," his comrade replied grimly. "At least when you die, you won't leave any sorrow behind."

"That's a strange way of thinking," the tall soldier said. "I'm sure there must be someone glad to see you back."

The other soldier gave a sigh, spurring his horse on, quite eager to get inside and have the gate closed behind them. The two of them were bringing up the rear, but now that they had reached the thick of the crowd, the cheers and voices intensified, and all the attention suddenly directed towards him made the soldier feel even more frustrated.

"Erwin Smith, the Elite Soldier of the Explorers!" someone with a loud voice pointed him out, although he would have preferred to remain unnoticed.

"Seems like someone is quite famous around these parts," the tall soldier remarked with a smirk.

"I wish they wouldn't make such a big deal out of that title," Erwin said, draping his green cloak around himself in a way to conceal the medal he was made to wear during every single occasion when he appeared in front of the public. "It's really nothing more but empty formality."

"These peasants and tradesmen need their heroes," his comrade said lightly. "Play along, send them a couple of charming smiles, and if you manage to keep it up like that, even the nobles would eat out of your palms."

"You really think so?" Erwin asked, not very convinced. His eyes drifted across the sea of unfamiliar faces, until his gaze was caught by a pair of brightly shining green orbs, belonging to a young child he faintly remembered encountering before. Erwin heaved a sigh, facing steadily forward again. "In those eyes, I might be reflected as a hero, but it's only a fragile image. Once it were to shatter, how would I look like? An ordinary human, or a terrible monster?"

"You really have a habit of pondering about strange things, but doesn't that mean you're actually concerned about losing your fame?"

"Fame is something I have no need of, and so I would give up on it anytime," Erwin replied with conviction. "The only thing worth retaining is glory. Not my own, but humanity's. That's the only reason I'm fighting for."

"Keep that fighting spirit until our next expedition," the tall soldier advised him with a laugh. "This time tomorrow, we will be in Hermiha, enjoying the festivities."

"We had to be summoned back because of this ridiculous celebration, even though we've been making good progress..." Erwin said, his hands gripping strongly at the reigns, his iron-clad beast sensing his mood and thrashing slightly under him, almost trampling the youth who approached him without his notice. He quickly checked his horse, bringing it to a halt, and looked down upon the child with the green eyes, appearing no more than ten years of age.

"Sir," the boy accosted him, a self-conscious blush on his cheeks, but his eyes shining with determination. "Welcome back."

With a shaky hand, the boy held out to him a single violet flower, and Erwin reached down to take it.

"You still like flowers, right, sir?" the boy asked, appearing flustered.

"Your memory is quite correct, Eren," Erwin replied with a genuine smile, not expecting the boy to remember their previous encounter.

Just then, a glum-looking little girl appeared from behind the boy, taking hold of his cloak in an attempt to drag him away.

"Come, Eren. You shouldn't talk to strangers."

Erwin looked down on them with an unchanging expression, the girl's dark eyes locked onto his icy blue ones with hostility. Spurring his horse into motion again, he left the two children without a word. Those eyes had spoken clearly enough for him to understand: while the boy might continue to show interest in becoming one of the Explorers, his family would not let him go and face the perils of the Outside. He had come to accept that: people with families, people with connections to others, could not afford to put their lives on the line so easily. They had to think about the ones they left behind. As for himself, he didn't have to live with such concerns. His life was his own alone. His death nobody's sorrow.

Erwin looked down on the single flower in his hand, a grim expression darkening his features again. He squeezed his palm tight, feeling as if his heart had been squeezed, instead of the fragile flower. It was a painful reminder. He let the violet flower fall from his hand as he proceeded on with the other soldiers, iron hoofs trampling over it as the flower landed on the stone pavement.

He had long forgotten her name. He could not even recall her face. Only the eyes remained vivid in his memory – eyes he would never see again...

~AoGM~

Mikasa dragged him along the back streets, away from the crowd of people. Rat-like creatures scurried close to the walls, disappearing in small cracks. Both Greta and Hans popped out their heads attentively, eager to pounce on them, but their attention was soon claimed by the act of their little mistress, who suddenly turned and pushed her weaker-looking human companion against a wall.

"Eren." Mikasa's eyes were far from being blank: a heated expression made them glow like charcoal as she held onto the front of the boy's shirt, speaking to him in a serious, commanding voice. "Forget about the Explorers. Forget about that soldier. They'd be all dead by the time you came of age to join the army."

Eren gasped, eyes wide in shock for those harsh words. The vision with the dolls resembling corpses floated back into his mind, but he shook his head to dissolve the image, and focused on his sister's burning eyes instead. Slowly, he brought up a hand to her own, clasping it in an attempt to free himself from her tight grasp.

"Stop saying things like that." His voice came out hoarse from shouting before, and for the tears he was still fighting back. Averting his face and looking at the ground, he noticed that the flowers had been scattered during their scuffle. "And I picked those flowers for Mom."

Mikasa's eyes softened, her grip loosening. She stepped back from him, letting Eren crouch down and gather up the now rather worn-looking flowers from the ground.

"I'll help you," Mikasa said, squatting down beside him. Their hands touched accidentally. The girl did not withdraw, but held onto his hand tenderly as she spoke, barely above a whisper, "I wish you'd talk to Father, and let him do a check-up on you. I really don't want to lose one of my family again..."

But her words only barely reached Eren's consciousness. His eyes were fixed on the small flower-heads hanging from the broken stems, their vivid colour reminding him of a pair of eyes – eyes that resembled ones he had seen not long before.

"His eyes... He has the same eyes..."

~AoGM~

The two of them walked up the jagged stone steps leading to their home. As Eren opened the door, his mother greeted them with a warm smile on her face – something which would usually chase away his bad mood. Not today, though. Too many things happened that day, his mind was too full of concern, his heart too much filled with anger he could not really explain himself.

His mother, Carla, was cooking dinner, its delicious smell filling the room. His father, Grisha, was sitting at the table, spread with papers. Most of the time he would go out visiting patients, even travelling as far as the inner districts. But even during the rare occasions when he was home, he would be absorbed in work, carrying out some kind of research, assisted by his partner Hulda, a gentle-looking creature with big, oval blue eyes and a pink coat. Her stethoscope-like ears and healing ability made her an able assistant to the doctor.

The one giving the creature her name was Mikasa, who had a habit for coming up with names. She had been the one to bring Hans and Greta, the two grey kittens, into the family, but since only certified Monster Tamers were allowed to own such creatures, the children had to keep them secret, so the two of them always behaved more free indoors. They were playing some kind of game with involved poking each other with their tiny hands, but to Eren, it seemed that Greta was picking on Hans again – the only way for him to tell the two apart was when he saw how weak the male was compared to the female, and it would always remind him of how much stronger Mikasa was compared to himself. She had always been the one to bear the brunt of the chores, since Eren was often too sickly and weak. This time, too, Mikasa was the one who had collected most of the firewood that would keep them warm during the chilly autumn days.

Eren always felt that it was wrong, and he was ashamed for being such a weakling and having to rely on his sister all the time. Wishing Mikasa wouldn't tell his mother that he wasn't any help at all, Eren tried to appear small, but his behaviour didn't escape his mother's discerning eyes, whose attention was always focused upon her children.

"What beautiful flowers you have here!" Carla remarked as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel, and walked up to his son, pinching his ear playfully. "Did you pick them for a girl?"

"...It's for you," Eren said in a mumble. The flowers were torn and not even remotely as nice as the ones growing on the meadow, and he wasn't sure anymore whether he should give them to his mother, but she took them from his hand, looking as pleased as if those were the most beautiful things growing on earth.

"Thank you," Carla said, stooping down a bit to place a kiss on Eren's cheek, surprising him quite a bit.

"Stop doing that," Eren grumbled, wiping his face on his sleeve. "I'm not a kid anymore."

"You keep saying that, but nobody would believe you until you stopped acting like one," Mikasa told him, wearing that annoying expression which made her look almost like an adult.

"You just shut up, Mikasa," Eren snapped at her.

Carla laughed, then placed both hands on Eren's shoulders. He was prepared for a scolding, but the look didn't change in his mother's gentle brown eyes.

"Let me have a look at you, young man," she said, measuring him up from head to toe. "You have indeed grown. You seem taller than before."

Hearing that, Eren felt a small sense of pride welling up in him. Maybe it wouldn't take long for him to catch up to Mikasa, who was still a few centimetres ahead of him.

"But no matter how much you grow or how old you become, you would always remain my precious little child," Carla continued, giving him a tight hug, and pulling Mikasa in as well. "And you too, Mikasa."

Eren could see his sister's charcoal-black eyes glow with warmth, but then her expression changed, and before Eren could stop her, she spoke, "Mom... Eren wants to join the Explorers."

"I told you not to tell them!" Eren broke free from his mother's arms, glaring at Mikasa.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's out of question!" Carla grabbed Eren's shoulders once again, shaking him. Her voice was far from being the kind, gentle one it had been before, and Eren was prepared that he might get slapped. But he didn't care anymore. His mother looked angry enough to shake the living soul out of him, but she let go of him, making another attempt to close the issue once and for all, "I don't want to hear such foolishness from you ever again!"

She went back to the fireplace, while Mikasa walked to the cupboard, taking out bowls and plates. Greta sat on the counter, opening a drawer and counting out spoons and forks. Grisha gathered up his papers from the table and put them away, while Hulda brought a tablecloth, and they began laying the table. Only Eren remained standing rooted to the spot, with Hans at his feet. He thought he could bear people mocking him, making fun of his dream – but he just couldn't take it from his own family, without feeling broken.

'_Those who win, survive,'_ the small creature reminded him. _'But to win, you have to fight.'_

The flames made a soft crackle in the fireplace. Home always felt warm and safe. But not that day – not after how he saw it through 'their' eyes. That perspective changed everything: home was just a pen; humanity nothing more than cattle. They were all living in ignorance.

That evening, the soup felt cold and tasteless to him. Eren left the table without a word, and went to bed early, feeling tired in spite of having caught some sleep before. But it felt like such a long dream, as if he had lived a lifetime in that world.

He buried his head in his pillow, Hans snuggling up to his chest and purring softly.

"It won't be long until the dream ends..." Eren whispered before his eyes closed, and he was asleep again.

~AoGM~

The embers burning in the fireplace dimly illuminated the room, casting shadows on the faces of the two adults who were sitting at the table in hushed conversation.

"There is no use being so hard on him, Carla," the doctor's gentle voice sounded above the cracking of firewood. "The boy's curiosity cannot be stopped, no matter what you say or do. Neither reason nor force can compete against the call, and it should only be natural for him to feel that way." He took hold of his wife's hand which rested on her lap, clenched into a tight fist. "We can both feel it, too, even after all those years."

Carla looked up at her husband, her expression conflicted.

"But the only place safe for us to live is within these walls," she said in an anxious whisper. "As long as 'they' keep on going out there, capturing and slaughtering without even making a distinction-"

The doctor's eyes turned to the door, catching a pair of ones dark as charcoal, and another pair round and iridescent.

"Shouldn't you be in bed now, Mikasa?" he asked with the same, gentle tone. "Or is there something bothering your sleep?"

The doctor was beckoning to the girl to come and join them, and even Carla managed to give her a kind smile. Mikasa stepped over the threshold, feeling a bit guilty for being caught, and convinced that it was because of the way Greta's eyes would shine in the darkness. The small kitten followed her as she walked up to the doctor and his wife.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sheepishly, deciding to tell their parents anyway, "I'm just worried about Eren. He's having bad dreams again."

Carla gave a small gasp, but Grisha nodded understandingly, looking at Hulda, who had been sitting in front of the fireplace, but now was bringing the doctor's bag – the one he would always take with him when visiting a patient. Grisha opened it up and produced a small feather from it. It had the shape of the crescent moon, and was glowing softly in the darkness.

"Give this to him," the doctor said as he placed the feather onto Mikasa's palm. "This is the feather of the one who chases away bad dreams."

Mikasa thanked him, then wished them a good night again, gathering up Greta, who was standing at Carla's feet, looking up at the woman intently, only she didn't notice the small creature, for her face was turned towards the fire, the dancing flames painting shadows on her face, deepening the look of worry on her expression. Before leaving the room, Mikasa turned to the doctor once again.

"Are those tales really true?" she asked in a small voice. "About the children lost in their sleep?"

Grisha gave her a reassuring smile, before he replied, "You don't have to be afraid of such tales coming true."

Mikasa really wished that it was the truth – that there was nothing to worry about, nothing to be afraid of in the dark. Before going to bed, she snuck into Eren's room, and placed the glowing feather under his pillow.

"I won't lose you..." she whispered, kissing the sleeping boy softly on the forehead.

* * *

**Next Chapter**

The year is 845. Humanity celebrates the hundred years of peace and harmony behind the walls of their Fortress. In the prosperous town of Hermiha, a young soldier glimpses a fair maiden in the carnival crowd. And when he lets himself be coaxed into a dance, he does not suspect how much he would regret that encounter afterwards…

**Fateful Encounter In The Carnival Crowd**

**Erwin Smith vs. Masked Maiden 'Ravenette'**


	3. Encounter

**Fateful Encounter In The Carnival Crowd**

**Erwin Smith vs. Masked Maiden 'Ravenette'**

_The year was 845. That day would always be remembered…_

The air was full of music and merriment in the town of Hermiha, celebrating the hundred years of peace and prosperity behind the walls of the Fortress.

Yet, in spite of being surrounded by a laughing, colourful crowd, he couldn't help feeling ill at ease. He wasn't really the one to believe in superstition, but earlier during his ride towards the town, he had caught a glimpse of the creature regarded as a sign of bad omen. He couldn't forget its figure standing out white against the deep green of the forest, its sharp scythe flashing in the scattered light that filtered through the dense foliage.

Those intent red eyes served as a grim reminder that beyond the safety of the Fortress walls, there lay a world where terrible, monstrous creatures dwelled. A world both beautiful and dangerous, a place where he would return again and again, since those who had once tasted true freedom couldn't be content by mere illusions anymore. And he harboured a long-standing suspicion that the safety of their everyday lives within the Fortress was nothing more than a fragile illusion that would be broken through one day. Like the carnival itself, where everything was fake: young people were hiding their faces behind colourful masks, a traveling circus promised shows of magic, young girls were strolling around in their best, frilly dresses, their faces painted like a mask, too.

"You should take it easy, Erwin, and enjoy the celebration," his Commander told him, giving him a pat on the back before shoving a mug of foamy beer into his hand, which he accepted rather reluctantly. "Go and ask a nice lassie for a dance! It's an order!" the Commander said with a good-humoured laugh before disappearing into the colourful crowd.

"Who would obey such an order," Erwin said with a smile. Golden-brown droplets fell to his hand from the mug full of beer, dripping down to his feet, where a small creature stood close by, observing him with a sharp, disapproving gaze. "What do you think, Scharf?" he asked his small companion, to which the creature flashed his blades at him. "I agree," he said with another smile. "We're better suited to fight than to dance."

"You never know until you try," his friend said, suddenly appearing by his side with his companion, a dog-like creature with sandy brown fur. "Want me to sniff out a suitable partner for you?"

"Thank you, Mike," Erwin said, laughing a bit and eyeing his beer rather uncertainly. "It's not that I don't trust your sense of smell, but rather, I don't trust my skills to dance. I really don't want to embarrass myself in front of such beautiful young ladies."

Just as he said that, a group of girls went past, giggling and blushing. It was a rare occasion to see the soldiers of the Explorers in the Acuity District, and the curiosity of the young girls of the inner districts was easily piqued by the uniformed soldiers and their fairy-tales of the outside world.

"It's such a waste of good opportunity," Mike told him. "My nose tells me that there's a particularly pleasant-smelling young maiden over there, in front of the magician's tent, waiting just for you."

Out of curiosity, Erwin threw a glance to where his friend had indicated, and indeed he could see a girl there, dressed in a harlequin costume of black and white, her face disguised by a mask ornamented with feathers of the same colours.

"Shouldn't we check their licence instead?" Erwin suggested rather uncertainly.

"Leave that to the Police, Erwin," Mike told him with a laugh, then went on encouraging, "We are here to have some fun until we're heading to the outside again. She doesn't seem to have fun, either. Go and ask her!"

"She's with the travelling circus. I doubt she has the time," Erwin said, tearing his eyes with some difficulty from the girl's small figure.

"A challenge, Erwin," Mike told him in a serious tone, intent on convincing his friend. "A test of courage. A task fit for a soldier."

Erwin let out a resigned sigh. Even though he couldn't fully agree with that last part, he couldn't turn down a challenge, even if it was bound to be something embarrassing. He handed his beer to Mike, and wiped his hand on his uniform pants before setting out with deliberate strides towards the girl, his small companion following close at his heels.

However, once he managed to push his way past the crowd and arrived in front of the tent, his resolve seemed to have weakened. His steps became uncertain as he approached the girl, who was handing out leaflets for the show, evidently more occupied by her work than to have time to spare for a soldier.

"A nice day we have, young miss," he accosted the girl, feeling awkward even as the words left his mouth. But when he met the pair of sharp, silvery eyes looking back at him from the slit of the mask, he felt downright mortified.

"A nice day indeed, Mr Blondie," the girl returned, only sparing him that one, stabbing glance, before turning back to her work.

"I wonder whether you care for a dance," Erwin ventured to ask, not wanting to return to his friend without even giving it a try. The answer he half-hoped, half-feared, came in an instant.

"I don't," the girl said in a cold voice, turning her small back and ignoring him.

That was it, then. He was about to return to where Mike was standing near a stall, but just then, a crimson-haired girl dressed in a red-and-black harlequin costume burst out from the magician's tent. Even though most of her face was covered with a mask, she was evidently angry, and the sparks in her deep sapphire eyes could make even a soldier retreat.

"Why can't I hear your voice, Ravenette?" the girl demanded. "And that's your way of treating our precious guests, scaring them away like that? Shame on you! Wait until the Circus Master finds out, and we're both whipped! Go, make yourself useful!" She gave a rough push to the other girl, taking the leaflets from her hands and beginning to invite the people in with a loud voice.

"You're such a slave-driver, Corneille," the girl called Ravenette grumbled, catching up with the soldier and following him to the stall with the apples, where another soldier was standing with a mug of beer in his hand and a sandy brown dog sitting at his feet. Erwin looked back at the girl with a puzzled expression.

"I'm free now," the girl told him bluntly, taking a sip from the beer his friend kept for him, then wiping her thin lips on a clean white handkerchief. "Does your offer still stand? About the dance?"

Erwin allowed himself a genuine smile as he saw the silvery eyes soften, wondering whether the mask was hiding a blushing face, and not yet suspecting that all that was only an illusion.

"It's my pleasure," he said, taking the delicate hand of the girl into his own and leading her to where the music was playing in the middle of the town square. He wasn't a noted dancer, yet he found himself enjoying the dance, if only for the sight of the graceful movements of his partner, her long, silky raven-black hair flying out behind her like a wing.

"Can't you call your creature back, please?" the girl told him after a while, her voice more commanding than her words. "I keep slicing my ankles on its sharp blades."

"Certainly," Erwin replied, reaching for the small orb on his belt to call his partner back. Scharf looked back at him with a sharp, defiant gaze. "I'm sorry, but I must insist," Erwin said, commanding the creature to return. But before he was engulfed by the reddish light, the creature shot the girl a last, suspicious glare.

"I must apologize," Erwin said, turning back to the girl and taking her hand once again, returning to their dance. "I'm so used to having him by my side that I often forget how… inconvenient it might be to others."

"Yes, well, I have to admit that the hilts of your swords poking into my ribs _is_ rather inconvenient," the girl said in a drawl, attempting to shift closer to him as they danced. "You are a difficult one to approach."

"I'm sorry, I can't call them back," Erwin told her with a nervous laugh. "I can never know when I might need them."

"I understand," the girl said, her voice not betraying any sympathy, and then questioning him further, "And those plates on your back? Aren't they heavy to carry around?"

"Not at all," Erwin replied, although they were actually heavier than what a man could carry around comfortably. But he did not want to bore his dance-partner with the methods of how to make equipment light-weight, so he only said as a way of explanation of their function, "They have the ability to levitate, allowing us to remain in the air, and they also serve as shield from attacks."

"So, this is what they call…" The girl's voice trailed off rather uncertainly, and he noticed that the pair of silvery eyes was turned up on him expectantly.

"The 3D manoeuvre gear," Erwin told her, quite pleased by the girl's curiosity. "Are you interested in how it works?"

The girl nodded in reply, and Erwin smiled on her, beginning to explain the function of the various parts and monsters.

"As part of our equipment, we also use smaller grass-type monsters, for-"

"For sending out the vines, to control the movement," the girl finished for him.

Erwin looked back at her a bit surprised, before making a compliment, "You seem to know a lot."

"I'm just an ordinary girl who likes to talk to soldiers." Her eyes flickered just for a second behind his back before meeting the soldier's icy blue gaze again. "It must be tough to be a soldier at the Explorers."

Erwin gave a small laugh before replying in an earnest voice, "It was my choice. And I can't say I regret it."

"But why would a handsome young man, who surely possesses great skills in taming monsters, would choose to join the ranks of the Explorers, instead of applying for acceptance into the Police?" the girl inquired. "Why not choose a life blessed with all the privileges our good King grants to his most loyal servants?"

Erwin did not miss the hint of sarcasm in her voice, which made him bold enough to speak his mind, "That is, my fair maiden, because I prefer to serve humanity, rather than one man alone."

"How right you are," the girl said in a voice somewhat approving as she threw a fleeting, condescending glance towards a group of drunken soldiers, wearing the pompous uniform of the King's Guard. "Those Police soldiers are like dogs on a leash. They don't have their own will."

Erwin gave a faint smile. It was strange to hear those words from the mouth of a circus entertainer. His discerning eyes did not miss the heavy iron bands around the girl's slender wrists – the marks of a slave. It was also one of the hidden realities of the world they lived in: while not talked about openly, it wasn't only the creatures that were treated as objects, but the poor people of the outer districts were often sold off to the rich merchants or the nobles, to work as slaves until they could buy their freedom. Yet, he chose to ignore the fact conveyed by those iron bands, not wanting to shatter the fragile illusion.

"Is it all true?" the girl suddenly asked in a voice that sounded serious. "That we live in a world of false contentment, while outside the Fortress, a legion of huge monsters is waiting until we're fattened enough and ready to be devoured?"

Erwin narrowed his eyes on her slightly. "For a mere circus-girl, you ask quite strange questions, don't you think?"

"I'm only curious about what's really going on," the girl told him with a slight shrug of her delicate shoulders.

"I see. Curiosity is a dangerous trait, but I have to admit that seeking for truth has its appeal, even if the road leading to reality is paved with…" Dead bodies. He found he couldn't say that in front of the girl.

"So it's true, then, that all this farce is only for hiding the cruel reality," the girl concluded, as if reading his thoughts, then put another question, "Honestly, what do you think? Is the real enemy outside the walls, or is it inside?"

"You shouldn't ask such questions," Erwin said, dropping his voice, but the girl only laughed. No-one could hear them in the noisy crowd and the loud music filling the air. Erwin found he quite liked the girl, even though he never had a chance to see her face.

And the girl recognised the look melting in the cold blue eyes, the sign that told her that it was her chance to move. She leaned in closer to steal a kiss, her hands ready to perform the motion she was now expert of, but before she could execute her plan, she found her wrist grabbed in a tight grip, the look in the icy blue eyes hardening as she kept on staring into them intently.

"And no ordinary girl, even a slave, would steal from a soldier, right?" Erwin said in a low voice.

She found herself laughing in spite of the sharp pain in her wrist. That was the first time she had ever failed. The first time she had ever got caught red-handed. Yet, she didn't despair, for she had a partner of her own to get her out of the bind.

Erwin suddenly felt something hitting the back of his head, and the split second while he was taken by surprise was enough to let the girl escape from his grasp, and before he knew it, he was kicked in the shin, and robbed of one of his swords.

She pushed her way through the crowd, her small figure allowing her an easier escape. She ran towards a narrow alley, followed by her trustworthy partner-in-crime, a black creature with vicious red eyes.

"Good job, Noir," she praised the small creature with the sharp claws as they arrived into the alley, safely out of sight. "Still, I feel bad for that blondie. He was such a good dancer." As she kept her eyes on her partner, she didn't notice the obstacle suddenly blocking her way, and she bumped into a broad chest. She quickly reached with one hand to readjust her mask before staring up into icy blue eyes, the look in them definitely freezing cold.

"If you have regrets, how about I invite you to a _Swords Dance _this time?" Erwin said, drawing out his remaining weapon.

"You dare to challenge an innocent young maiden? How unsoldierly," the girl complained, feigning indignation.

"Drop the farce," Erwin said in a sharp, commanding tone. "You are no ordinary maiden, and I am no fool to fall for such a trick."

"Fine," the girl replied, reaching for the hilt of the sword her partner held out to her. "I accept your invitation. Let's dance!" Even as she said that, she could feel the blue cloth hanging from the hilt wrapping tightly around her arm. The swords clashed with a metallic clang, sending sparks in every direction.

There had been numerous occasions when she held a sword in her hand, but those were all fake ones used for the magic show in the circus. This was her first time wielding such a living weapon. The Explorer soldiers used creatures made of steel and surrounded by a ghastly aura in order to fight the enemy outside the Fortress. They were more difficult to wield than ordinary swords, since they possessed a will of their own, a will which in untrained hands could quickly go out of control.

She soon had to face the fact that she was at a huge disadvantage against the experienced soldier. Yet, she wasn't one to give up easily, and she was quick to learn and master the way of treating those mystical creatures. It was a chance for her to learn more, even if the duel was to end in her defeat.

"_Shadow Sneak_," her opponent called, and she found herself hit from the back, but even as she spun around in an instant, she could see nothing behind her back.

"Sorry, that was underhanded," Erwin apologized from the girl. "I was merely curious how much you know about battle commands."

"Teach me," the girl replied, dealing him a mighty blow which belied her small stature and fragile looks, and before Erwin could recover from his surprise, she quickly repeated the same battle command, "_Shadow Sneak_."

"You would make a fine soldier, I have to admit that," Erwin praised, deliberately holding back his creature's true powers in order to see how much his opponent was capable of. From his early training, he remembered well that it took an enormous effort to focus on wielding even one of those sword-creatures. Yet, the girl didn't show the slightest sign of fatigue.

"Thanks, but I'd rather pass," the girl replied, spinning around swiftly to gain momentum for her next slicing attack.

"You might be right to refuse," Erwin told her, evading her rapid attacks. "It would be such a shame, having to cut your beautiful black hair, Ravenette."

"What was that, a compliment?" the girl said with a scornful laugh, then turning serious again, "You raised your weapon against the property of another. You are aware that such breach of the law calls for severe punishment, don't you."

"And you must be are aware, my fair maiden, that stealing is an heinous crime, and I don't care whether you're free or slave, I'll have my retribution. It's an eye for an eye," Erwin told her, being more than aware that what he was just doing went against the law in more ways than he cared to count at the moment. He was supposed to restrain his opponent, and give her over to the Police, not playing with her the way he did, and on top of all than, enjoying their fight more than their previous dance.

But as they were absorbed in the sword-fight, the two of them gradually began to show their true colours.

"Then we shall both be thrown to prison," the girl said, her tone not betraying any concern about such a possibility.

"Or worse, be executed," Erwin told her half-seriously.

"Not if we behead the King and slay his puppies first," the girl suggested boldly, and he wasn't sure whether those dangerous words were told in earnest, or only served to throw him off guard.

Noir, the girl's companion, was in the meantime perched on the edge of a windowsill, following the fight with keen eyes.

'_Master seems to enjoy this battle_,' the creature observed with a smirk. "_We like to play with our prey. But sooner or later, the big guy's head is gonna roll for sure._'

"If you were to become the new King, would you make me your Queen?" The silvery eyes looked up at him with that deceptively softened look, but Erwin kept himself fully focused on their fight.

"I never enter into a bargain until I know what exactly I get in exchange. What are you hiding under your mask?" Erwin questioned, aiming to slice away the mask covering part of the girl's face. "What are you hiding under your skirt?"

"Care to find out?" the girl asked with a coquettish smile.

"I'm dying to know," Erwin replied with a smirk, for a moment letting her have the upper hand, and sure enough, he soon found his back hitting against the brick wall, cornered by his opponent.

"Those might just be your last words, Blondie," she told him as their swords strained against each other.

"We shall see," Erwin said, deciding that it was enough playing games. "_Shadow-_"

"No, you won't," the girl interrupted, jumping back from him, then returning with rapid attacks slicing through the air.

"_Aerial-_" Erwin began the command to finish the battle off, but just at that moment, he noticed the thin column of black smoke rising up in the sky, and while he was occupied with taking in the sight, the point of a blade was pressed to his throat.

"I guess it's my victory," the girl announced, her thin lips curving into a triumphant smile.

Erwin looked back at the silvery eyes, which appeared to him sharper than any blades.

"Thank you for the dance," the girl said, lowering the sword and walking up closer to him.

Noir gave a disappointed sigh from above. '_Should've smashed his brains out before,_' he remarked maliciously. '_Humans are such merciful fools. Even Master…_'

"I… have to go now," Erwin said, struck by a strange feeling of uneasiness. He recalled the sight of the white creature with the black scythe, the harbinger of disaster. Those ruby-red eyes were trying to warn him not to let his guard down. He wasn't supposed to forget, even for a day, even for a fleeting moment of illusion, that he was a soldier.

"Hey," the girl called after him, rushing past and blocking his way out of the narrow alley. "I won't let you go until I stole from you what I originally intended to steal."

Before Erwin knew it, the girl brought both her strong arms around his neck, so that he could feel the cold iron against his skin as she pulled him down and pressed her lips against his own. But even as they got so close, his mind failed to register the fresh scent of lavenders on the girl. He was too distracted to react to this new development. All he could think of was the black smoke in the sky. A bad omen. And he had to go…

~AoGM~

He tossed his mask carelessly down on the heap of various props and masquerade, letting out a tired, disappointed sigh.

"Such a good dancer, but a shitty kisser," he said, flopping down on the heap of costumes.

'_You should've beheaded him while you still had the chance, you know,_' Noir remarked, sharpening his claws. '_If you liked his handsome face that much, you could've kept it in a jar._'

If he could have understood the language of his partner, he would have laughed at such a suggestion. But there was no occasion for laughter, not just yet. He was aware that the worst part of the day was yet to come, when he would have to face his angry boss. His owner, and his whip. He wondered whether the Circus Master noticed that he completely missed the show.

"There you are, you lazy slacker!" the girl with the crimson-red hair said, storming into the small storage room, scolding him as usual. He found himself wondering where she had picked up such insufferable manners. "Did you have any luck with the soldiers?"

"Sort of," he replied evasively, eyeing the sword in his hand. The single booty he had brought back, and the girl observed it right away.

"Did you manage to steal anything else beside that useless sword?" she demanded.

"Yeah," he said, carefully touching the blade, probing the sharpness of the edge and feeling the creature quiver slightly in his hand.

"And what?" the girl asked, looking around, without seeing anything more.

"A kiss," he replied, to which the girl only rolled her eyes in clear exasperation. "But it's useless, because I couldn't steal the heart."

"Raven," the crimson-haired girl began with a sigh, "are you only interested in hearts you can obtain by no other means than stealing?"

"Where's the fun if it's offered on a silver plate?" he told her in a bored voice.

"Well, you can at least take the silver plate, and sell it off for good money," the girl huffed, trying to hide her blushes behind a mask of indignation.

Raven laughed at her idea and obvious behaviour. "Always particular about money, aren't you, Crow," he remarked, an amused smile playing on his thin lips. "I bet you made a fortune today."

"A hundred times more than you did, you useless daydreamer," the girl burst out.

He had to admit to himself that there was some truth in the girl's harsh words. Maybe he was nothing more than a useless daydreamer, building castles in the air. The day had been full of opportunities he had missed, because he had been so tangled up in extracting information from one single soldier, which he had done solely for his own purposes.

No, he corrected himself. He was doing it for _their_ own purposes. For that noisy red-haired girl and the whole menagerie of strange creatures that shared the same fate with the two of them, being nothing more than tools of entertainment. And the thing in his hand might have just been the key to their freedom. The conversation with the soldier did put some bold ideas into his head.

"Money won't buy our freedom, only the will to fight," he said, as if reciting from one of their acts they usually performed, only those words were dangerous ones, never to be spoken in front of the public. "Kill the oppressor and claim your just reward."

"Are you out of your mind, Riva-" the girl began with an astonished look, before he pointed the sword straight at her heart.

"Don't call me that. It's Raven, remember?" he told her with a sharp voice and stabbing glance. The girl gave a small, timid nod. "Can you trust me in this?"

"Yes," the girl replied right away. "The only one I can trust in this world is you."

"Good," he said in a softened voice, lowering the sword and turning it around a couple of times in his hand, before placing it back into its scabbard. "Now, take good care of this one. Hide it well."

Crow took the creature from his hand, and watched him walk out of the small storage room.

The sky was beginning to get darker when he went outside again. Even with the Explorers gone, the merriment on the streets never abated. Music and boisterous voices filled the night air.

Raven climbed to the top of a roof, looking down on the dim lights of the prosperous city with a contemptuous gaze, before raising his eyes to look towards the distant horizon, taking in the sight of their confined word, marked by the high, looming walls.

"I wonder whether such a man even has a heart to give away," he remarked in a low voice, recalling what he had discerned from the encounter with the soldier.

'_We threw that away long ago, right?_' his companion said, without a hint of regret.

Raven gave a faint scoff. Living a life so dangerous, when there was no certainty of a tomorrow to come, what use there was to have a feeling heart, anyway? Maybe in that respect, the two of them were the same. Maybe they were alike in more than he could see at that time. Somehow, he felt like he wanted to find out.

He turned around to face southwards. The night sky seemed different in that direction. Tainted. That was his impression as he looked on, before returning his gaze to his trustworthy companion. The creature's small figure had already merged into the darkness, but his red eyes flashed sharply. Raven allowed himself a genuine laugh as he scratched Noir behind the ear.

"Whether the slave of a filthy rich merchant, or the lapdog of the King, or a willing sacrifice to humanity, in the end, all that matters is our own freedom."

* * *

**Next Chapter**

An unexpected customer arrives at the small supply shop of a town located in the Verity District, offering a bag of gold in exchange for some highly illegal substance. However, the crafty shopkeeper has her eyes set on something other than gold… Would she manage to strike up a good bargain, in the middle of a crisis threatening the peaceful days of humanity?

**A Fairly Dubious Bargain**

**Shopkeeper Hanji vs. A Soldier In Great Hurry**


	4. Bargain

**A Fairly Dubious Bargain**

**Shopkeeper Hanji vs. A Soldier In Great Hurry**

Hanji was organizing the goods on the crammed shelves of her small supply shop, standing on a tall ladder while her companion, a small creature with reddish patches on her cream-coloured fur, looked up at her anxiously.

"It's all right, Spinney, we're almost done here, and then we can go to the fair," she told her companion with a wide smile, in anticipation of the delicious pastries and the good beer served on such an occasion. Spinney seemed to be excited about the fair, too. She kept on skipping from one leg to another, waving her short arms at her.

"Oh, you would like to dance, too," Hanji observed with another wide grin. "But stop doing this, you're making me dizzy up here, ho-ho." She gave a hearty laugh, and the ladder under her began to sway dangerously.

Just then, she could hear small bells tinkling as the shop door was burst open, and a soldier wearing the Explorers' uniform stormed in, completely disregarding the 'Closed' sign. But soldiers were always a troublesome lot, even on a day of celebration.

"Erwin! Long time no see!" Hanji said in pleasant surprise as she recognized the young man walking up to the counter. She immediately began descending from the ladder to welcome her unexpected customer.

"Long time, indeed," the soldier said gruffly, continuing in a dead serious voice, "I need your help, Hanji. Give me all the Rare Candies you've got, or if you have any stronger stuff. I'm in a hurry." Saying that, Erwin placed a bag full of gold on top of the counter, and Hanji looked back at him suspiciously.

"You know well that I can't sell such things in such an amount, not even to _you_," Hanji said, waving a scolding finger at him, while her companion tried to imitate her gesture with one, stubby arm.

"I don't think it should matter to _you_ in a crisis like this," Erwin told her with a sharp glance. "I need _two_ swords, and I need them right now."

"I'm no blacksmith, just a humble shopkeeper," Hanji said innocently.

"You know what I mean," Erwin said pointedly, placing his single blade on top of the counter. "I need you to evolve this creature."

"What happened to the other one?" Hanji inquired, tilting her head, her companion following her example.

"I was robbed," Erwin replied curtly, drumming his fingers impatiently on the counter. The strange expression on his face did not escape Hanji's discerning eyes.

"Erwin, are you a bit drunk, or why is your face so red?" she asked bluntly, sensing that her friend's behaviour was rather strange and flustered. "Could it be that…?"

"None of your business," the soldier replied, averting his icy blue eyes from her prying gaze.

"A boring answer from a boring man, right, Spinney?" Hanji said with a dismissive sigh, reaching to pull out a strange device from behind the counter while her companion teetered to the back of the shop.

"Just hurry up, will you," Erwin urged.

"It's dangerous, you know, forcing a creature to evolve," Hanji told him in a serious voice.

"I know," Erwin sighed, burying his face momentarily in his palms, "but I have no other choice."

"Is it fully trained?" she inquired.

"I'm no amateur, Hanji," the soldier snapped at her. "Will the money suffice, or won't. Let's not waste each other's precious time."

"I'm afraid I can't accept your money," Hanji said as she pushed the bag of gold away to make room for her device, which she began to attach to the rather reluctant sword-creature on the counter. "What I ask in exchange for my services is something of much _greater_ value," she told him meaningfully.

"Hanji, I can't," Erwin replied promptly, clearly exasperated by her request. It was an issue they had been debating since forever – or at least ever since the soldier had first set foot to the outside world, and encountered the giant monsters. "It's not only dangerous, but more importantly, it's against the law," he pointed it out to her, for the hundredth time.

"I don't think it should matter to you in a crisis like this," Hanji repeated his earlier words, taking advantage of the situation. She could see that her friend was in dire need, and she needed something very badly, too. It was a great opportunity for her to strike up a good bargain, so she did not hesitate to say, "All I'm asking of you is to bring me one tiny little giant creature. A deviant, preferably."

"You do realize that we're the deviants here, bargaining over highly illegal stuff like that," Erwin said, eyeing warily as Hanji finished adjusting the device on his sword-creature. "You're asking me to risk my head for the sake of your crazy research."

"Yup, exactly," Hanji replied without showing the least concern about it. Meanwhile, her helpful companion came back with a large box filled with round candies neatly wrapped in blue paper.

"Well, I guess I've already lost my head over that…" Erwin mumbled, his voice trailing off.

"You do make me wonder about why are you so agitated," Hanji remarked curiously.

"I saw the creature of doom," Erwin said evasively, not wanting to recall what had happened in that narrow alley back in the town of Trost.

"Wow, and what was the creature like?" Hanji questioned him excitedly.

"Ominous."

"Oooh, so it's something serious," the young woman observed.

"It is," Erwin told her with a sigh, then said sharply, "But more importantly, get down to work."

Hanji took a handful of Rare Candies from the box and spread them on the counter, picking up one and unwrapping it, then trying to pop it into the creature's mouth. That was when she realized that she had a small problem.

"Help me, Erwin, I don't even know where the mouth is!" she laughed while she was fumbling around the protesting creature.

"And you're supposed to be a monster scientist," Erwin said with a roll of his eyes, placing a soothing hand on the hilt of the sword and taking the candy from Hanji's hand.

"I'm only a trainee scientist," the woman told him with a wide, enthusiastic grin.

"You must be a handful for Professor Jäger," Erwin remarked, pushing the candy into the creature's mouth. He could feel the sword shudder under his hand, accompanied by a light that spread through its body.

Hanji went back to checking the device attached to the creature as Erwin kept on repeating the treatment. Spinney climbed on top of the counter to assist with unwrapping the candies, while a pair of sharp amber eyes looked on the scene disapprovingly.

"Leave the moveset," Erwin told Hanji, taking a candy Spinney was just about to pop into her own mouth. The small creature looked back at the tall soldier quite disappointedly but he was more occupied by the task at hand to give her any regard. "I don't have time for training new battle commands."

"Are you sure?" the trainee scientist asked, her eyes scanning the screen of the device. "I can see awesome potentials in here, just a few Rare Candies away from the target level. How about feeding it a dozen or so more?"

The sword-creature shuddered in protest.

"We will make the adjustments later. Let's just do the level-up thing until it evolves," Erwin told her.

The creature was now engulfed in a harsh light, its body appearing to split in two. When the light died down, there lay two swords on the counter instead of one. The cloth floating from the hilt also changed to a purple colour.

"Congratulations! Your Honedge evolved into Doublade!" Hanji announced, to which Erwin heaved a relieved sigh.

"There is one thing I still have to know," he began as he examined his evolved creature, "Which one is it? The one with the move _Pursuit_, or the one with _Fury Cutter_?"

"Don't tell me you can't even tell your own swords apart!" Hanji told him in a voice half scolding, half mocking.

"I have a good guess, but I just have to make sure."

"It's the one – or rather, now two – which knows _Pursuit_," Hanji replied, after consulting her device once again.

"I guess that's exactly what I'm going to do to that thief," Erwin said contemplatively, looking at his companion, who flashed his blades at him in agreement.

'_You never listen_,' Scharf remarked reproachfully. '_You met your doom._'

"Who are you talking about exactly?" Hanji asked, her curiosity piqued by the mysterious person Erwin kept on mentioning.

'_Who is he talking about exactly?_' Spinney asked, tilting her head in confusion.

'_That girl in the fair,_' Scharf replied crossly. '_And not fair at all._'

"I wish I knew," Erwin said with a sigh, then reconsidered, "Or rather, I don't. All I know is that I've been a fool, and if this mission wouldn't kill me, then I'd sure die of shame."

"Erwin, is there something you're not telling me?" Hanji asked, sensing that there were a couple of things on his friend's mind.

'_Is there something he's not telling her?_' Spinney repeated.

'_Trouble,_' Scharf replied enigmatically. '_Make it double._'

"The wall has been breached, Hanji," Erwin finally revealed, even though he was ordered not to talk about it, in order to avoid panic spreading among the public. But it couldn't be helped. It was reality, and his friend had a right to know about that. "Monsters are coming in through the Southern Gate as we speak. I really don't have the time for idle chit-chat now. I'll tell you all about that later, if I still live to tell."

"Oh, so it's serious business."

"It is, so I'm afraid we have to cut this bargain short. Let a quick duel decide. If I win, you accept my money. If I lose, I keep my money, and remain in your debt until I bring you what you've asked."

"Deal," Hanji agreed, knowing well that she could trust the word of her friend.

"Right," Erwin nodded. "One round, no cheating. Ready?"

"Whenever you are," Hanji replied, rolling up her sleeves.

They played a round of rock-paper-scissors, and luck seemed to be by her side. She grinned widely at her dismayed friend.

"That's scissors, Erwin, and I have a rock here!" Hanji announced triumphantly. "I sooo knew you'd come up with that, since you seem to have a thing for sharp objects!"

"Damn you, Hanji," Erwin cursed. "This day has been nothing but bad luck for me."

"Have a safe return, and don't forget to bring me the price, or you shall be my slave for a lifetime!" Hanji reminded him.

As the shop door closed behind the hastily retreating figure of the soldier, his earlier words slowly began to sink in.

"The Southern Gate, he said," Hanji mused, leaning on the counter. Sudden realisation flashed in her mind, and she turned to Spinney anxiously. "Oh! Oh, that's bad! That's Shiganshina, right? I have to tell the Professor!"

She took up a pencil and hastily scribbled a few lines on a piece of scrap paper, then hurried to the window, and threw it open, craning her neck towards the roof, where an owl-like creature was perching on one leg, fast asleep. Climbing the roof, she raised the bird and tied the letter to its leg, sending it away with her message in the direction of the innermost district.

Hanji turned her worried gaze to the south. Dense clouds tainted the sky, rising high above the wall.

"Could it be… a sandstorm?"

* * *

**Next Chapter**

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! The colossal Circus Reeves proudly presents the most amazing show of the century! Head-spinning trapeze acts! Heart-racing escapes from heavy chains! Jugglers, clowns, creatures in all shapes and sizes! Witness the dangerous beasts from the unknown Wilderness, tamed and docile! Only for a day, only in Hermiha! Step right up, don't be shy, the spectacle shall worth the price!

…And what is the price for a dream to come true? Could an innocent kiss become the key, or would it steal the heart away?

**Circus Attractions**

**The Birds &amp; Their Keeper**


	5. Attractions

**Circus Attractions**

**The Birds &amp; Their Keeper**

_Even the sun and the moon, even the stars and the rainbows are nothing but false illusions!_

The big tent was loud with the sound of trumpets, drums and cymbals. The brass band was playing a cheerful medley – creatures with big ears and long trunks were balancing deftly on colourful balls; poodles with extravagant trims were performing elaborate tricks, making the audience laugh and clap their hands in rhythm with the quickening pace of the music. White unicorns were dashing around in a circle, their decorated girdles glittering in the light of their blazing manes which formed fiery plumes on their heads.

The show was coming to its grand finale – the performers were stepping out onto the podium for a last appearance, receiving compliments from a loud, applauding crowd. The Circus Master – with a wide grin on his round face, his plump body swelling with pride – presented each one with a flourish, taking the hand of a young crimson-haired girl and twirling her round and round. She was wearing a red-and-black harlequin costume, and a mischievous smile. The Circus Master was beaming at her like an affectionate father, then held out his other hand to another girl who could have been the double of the first one, only she was dark-haired and dressed in black-and-white. But as soon as he took hold of the delicate hand-

'_Poof!'_

-the girl turned into a small fox-creature. The audience gasped in surprise – even the Circus Master seemed momentarily puzzled, casting a quick glance behind his back, as if expecting the real thing to make her appearance, but then turning back again and inviting the assembled to reward the trick with another round of applause.

For those who were mere spectators of a circus show, the world of extraordinary creatures and performers with strange tricks and talents might have appeared as one full of wonders and dazzling light. However, his eyes were trained to see through the illusions created through vibrant colours and false masks – it was but for a mere fragment of a second that he had glimpsed the creature trembling in terror, and the Circus Master's hand tightening around his whip…

~AoGM~

'_Resist!'_

Another resounding whiplash stirred the air, and he gritted his teeth against the stinging pain it left on his skin. Caged creatures in chains and manacles were cowering in terror, trying to hide their presence in the shadows of the tent, while their Master, a fat and merciless man, was dealing out the punishment to a small human, who shared the same lot of misery with them.

"Take this! And this!" the Circus Master bellowed, his round head going an ugly shade of purplish-red, his knuckles going white as he clenched the handle of the whip, swinging his arm high above his head to deliver another painful lash on the narrow, pale back of a delicate-looking boy barely fifteen years of age. At the side of the raging man, there stood a massive creature with a beard of orange flames, red snout turned up and thick black arms folded as it looked down on the offender with no sympathy in its burning eyes.

"You think you can fool me?!" the man roared, veins bulging on his temples and perspiration trickling down his face with the anger and effort of striking the back of that weak-looking, but all the more strong-willed slave. He brought his whip down again and again with relentless fury. "Useless! Scum! Aargh...!"

"Father…?" a timid voice interrupted him. A freckled boy, similarly built than the older man, was standing uneasily in the entrance of the tent. In his haste, he had not even changed yet from his loose clown costume, and a creature of pale pink was bouncing nervously at his feet, a black pearl atop its head.

"What is it, Flegel?" the Circus Master snapped, annoyed for the intrusion.

The boy held out the sealed envelope he was holding onto with shaky hands. "A message from Utopia."

"Huh?" the man grunted, not expecting or caring about any message, unless it was to convey something worth his while. However, the mention of the Capital did manage to capture his attention. His bloodshot eyes swept around the tent, and he raised his voice again in a hoarse shout, "Kenny!"

"Right here, Boss." The figure of a lean man materialized out of the shadows, followed by a slithering viper and a mongoose with great claws. His cold eyes had been following the events, seeking an opportunity to lock with the defiant grey orbs to see whether he could glimpse even the slightest hint of suffering in them. He knew well enough that the boy was already used to bear with the physical abuse – he wouldn't exhibit any outward sign of pain. The young one had been trained well – he had been steeled to endure the beating.

However, the man was also aware that words struck deeper than the whip, right at his weakest, leaving scars that would not heal over time, only spread out until consuming him from the inside. He knew the boy possessed a dignity way too high for a mere slave, and rather than breaking him, each strike of the whip only gave fuel to his pride. But pride could easily turn into hubris: arrogance, conceit, vanity – and, if remained untamed, would eventually cause his downfall.

"Finish the job, then lock him up!" the Master ordered, tossing the whip to him. "Seems like I have some business more important than dealing with their rebelling lot. Teach him a lesson on who's Master, will you."

"With pleasure, Boss," Kenny replied, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

The fat Circus Master left with angry strides, his company following him out of the tent. Even his absence didn't stop the captives from trembling in fear. Left alone with those pathetic, enslaved creatures, Kenny walked up to the boy on the podium set up in the middle of the tent. His hands were bound up tight to the frame of a false guillotine used for the show. Long strands of silky raven hair were cascading down in front of his chest, removed from the way of the whip. Kenny reached down with a hand to grab hold of the untidy bangs, forcing the boy's face up to finally look into his eyes.

'_Resist!'_

Just as he had expected, there was nothing else in them but defiance. Never an imploring look. No tears of pain.

"You really must like the whip, Raven," Kenny said in a low, husky voice, his gaze wandering past the boy's shoulders to the bleeding marks marring the pure white skin of his back. His hand clenched around the whip. "Well, then… This should be fun, yeah?"

~AoGM~

The crimson-haired girl was crouching low behind the tent, her heart aching each time she could heard the whip strike against flesh. Crow was familiar with the pain, but not sharing in the punishment was an even worse torture, for she was feeling just as guilty. She had never refused to lend her assistance to whatever venture Raven set his mind on, and they would always get away with his absence, since her partner Mirage was a trickster fox: she could conjure up a perfect Illusion and disguise herself as any human or creature. Being also a talented actress, she would often stand in for Raven and perform just as flawlessly as the boy did – well, almost.

Countless times before, the trick had worked steadily in their favour – then why did it fail them, on a day so important?

The sound of lashes momentarily ceased, and she cautiously edged closer to the entrance of the tent, listening to the voices of conversation inside, before she shrank back behind a crate again, seeing the son of the Circus Master backing out of the tent, immediately followed by his father, who was stomping in a state of fury. He snatched an envelope from the boy's hands, tearing it open and bringing it under the light of a lamp to read its contents. Peering out from her hiding place, she could see his face gradually changing colour: the red of anger draining until only the paleness of dread remained painted on his features.

"That shouldn't have happened..." the Circus Master muttered in a shaky voice. "After all those sums we invested in them and their wretched creatures!"

"What is it, Father?" Flegel made a cautious inquiry, to which the colour rose again in the man's face, making him look like a volcano about to erupt.

"Those damned, useless Explorers!" he spewed the words with utmost contempt. "They let the Giants in! It says here that those monsters are now roaming free all around Valor!"

Crow put a hand over her mouth, smothering a cry of alarm. Even though her mind was trying vehemently to deny acceptance of the truth, her body was already beginning to shake with a familiar terror.

Only once in her life had she ever set eyes on a Giant Monster, when her family had been visiting Valor, the outermost district, and she and her elder brother had been allowed to look at the view from atop Wall Azelf. She could still remember standing there on the 50-meter giant construction, harsh sunlight beating down on her parasol – but all of a sudden, the warmth around her had been drained when she had spotted one of the fearsome creatures. She could never forget the look in those hungry eyes, the paralyzing intensity of them as they had kept bearing directly into her own. By her side, her brother Cain had been laughing derisively, as if those monsters had been nothing more than insects, easily crushed underfoot.

That brief moment of remembrance to her cold-hearted brother was enough to erase her sudden bout of fear, pulling her anxious thoughts back to the only person she would ever call 'Brother' again.

'I wish those two fat clowns would move away,' she thought impatiently, and once father and son finally walked back towards their more comfortable lodgings in a nearby inn, she left her hiding place and made a dash for the entrance of the tent, determined to take her just share from the punishment…

~AoGM~

_THE PREVIOUS DAY_

"'Circus Reeves: World's Colossal Attractions'" the youth read out in a bored tone, his immature voice distorted by a beaked mask which covered his entire face, letting only a pair of sharp silver eyes peer through the small, circular openings. "Did you make these leaflets?"

"No, they came flying down from the sky," Kenny replied, annoyed for losing his focus and making a blotch on the paper. He was sitting on a low stool beside a crate and was trying his damnedest to produce his best handwriting. He only spared one glance at the boy – not that he could read anything from his mask-covered face or colourless voice, but the hard look in his eyes spoke clearly enough of his displeasure. "Who else could've made these but me, the equerry and general dogsbody? So why'd you even bother to ask, huh? You have a problem with them, or what?"

"These make it sound like we're a freak show," the boy said, leafing through the colourful pieces of paper advertising the various circus attractions.

"Aren't we?" Kenny asked, returning to manufacture more of the flyers. "True, we don't have a werewolf man or a bearded woman to show off, but we still have our own grumpy little gnome to keep the ladies and gents in terror."

His comment earned him a hard punch on the shoulder, and he upset the bottle of ink, spilling most of its contents on the pages in front on him. His careful work now lay in complete ruin.

"Now that's just fucking great," Kenny burst out in frustration, tossing away the quill and gesturing to the soaked flyers. "Look at what you've made me do. You really need to learn how to control your temper, Raven."

Kenny set to cleaning up the mess on his makeshift workbench, careful not to do any more harm, and the boy helped him, salvaging from whatever could still be saved from the spreading dark pool of ink.

"Take off that weird-ass mask, will you. I can't even see your face, brat," Kenny said, but all he got in response was sullen silence. He really hated those the most. "You look like one of those creepy plague doctors."

From the corner of his eye, he watched as the slender hands moving expertly to make everything clean and orderly again. At least the boy had a habit of making things right where harm had been done, and that was a trait he both admired and envied from him.

"Has it gotten worse?" Kenny asked in a quieter voice, realizing that earlier he might have been careless with his words, and thus rightfully deserved the boy's outburst of violence. Still, he got no reply.

Raven went to seat himself further away on a crate, looking more like a perching bird, with his small figure and beaked mask. Kenny decided that it was probably best to just let him be, so he resumed his work, cutting up paper and dipping the quill into the remaining ink, carefully forming the flourishing letters which made up the words of invitation to the show.

"Look, brat, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. You know I didn't mean it as it sounded." He quite surprised himself with the apology, but at least he managed to achieve as much as to make the masked face turn towards him, the steely grey eyes looking directly into his own. Under such a gaze, which could pierce right into his core, he couldn't be anything but honest. "And you should also know you needn't hide your face. Not in front of _us_. The Reeves-bunch and their toadies are a different lot. But we're family, aren't we?"

More silence. Then, a faint scoff.

"Geez, you just have to go and pull such a cheesy line out of your ass, don't you," the boy mimicked his tone, but let the mask down.

Finally having the chance to look at his face, Kenny could tell that he wasn't actually angry. It appeared to him more like the boy had something in mind – something he was more deeply concerned about than the quality of the advertisement they were making for the circus. But at the same time, he also knew that if Raven didn't want to talk about it, then there was no way for him to get it out of the brat, and it made him considerably annoyed.

"Change the words," Raven spoke unexpectedly, coming close again to inspect his work.

"Don't expect me to redo it again, brat," Kenny told him, giving a proud pat to the thick stack which had already gathered at his left elbow. "What's wrong with them, anyway?"

Raven let out an exasperated sigh, as if explaining it all were a huge pain in the ass, and even so since it appeared evident that he thought the problem was something obvious. But Kenny had been working long enough for Circus Reeves to skip over details he didn't consider important.

"I don't think even half of those are grammatically correct," Raven replied after a while. "And 'colossal'… I just hate that word. Makes me think of something unpleasant."

Kenny squinted his eyes at one of the leaflets in an attempt to see where the problem was, but after a while, he had to find that it was probably just another of the boy's quirks.

"You know, I think I can agree with you on that," he finally said, deciding not to argue against the observation. "Now that you mention it, that word does bring back some nasty memories. It happened this morning, when I went outside to the privy, expecting it to be a smooth one, but then…"

Before Kenny could even finish his story, the two of them were already laughing unrestrained, and that was when someone came into the tent. Raven instinctively reached to pull the mask over his face, but when he recognized the crimson-haired girl and the small slate grey fox at her heels, he let his hand fall to his side again.

It was only for a split second while the sapphire eyes lingered on his face, registering the subtle change on the pale skin, but then her signature wide grin spread across her face.

"Telling some dirty jokes again?" she inquired. Their good mood was unmistakable, and she was feeling just a tiny bit jealous for being left out of the fun.

"Nah, just discussing the matter of these flyers," Kenny told her airily, waving a handful in front of the girl's face. Meanwhile, as their eyes met, Raven let slip another snort of laughter, before hastily looking away. The girl crossed her arms, a pout forming on her lips, and Kenny knew her enough to guess what she was thinking, so he went and asked, "Got any ideas for a catchy slogan or something, Crow?"

The girl's eyes lit up in an instant. She went through the flyers, nodding her head in approval. "How about… 'The awesomest spectacles of the century!'," she suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good one," Kenny agreed, and began carefully writing out the words on a clean piece of paper.

"Ugh, _grammar_," Raven groaned, feeling one of his headaches coming on. "Also, I have a bad premonition about 'spectacles'…"

"It's only just about everything that ticks off your disaster sensor, yeah?" Kenny waved his quill at him. "Can't you relax, for a change?"

Raven made a face, then rolled up both his sleeves, so that the iron bands – the reminder of their slavery – became visible. "How about 'Real monsters in chains'?"

His cold voice made the atmosphere around them freezing, and for a prolonged moment, neither of them spoke.

"I know what you're thinking,' Crow broke the silence in a gentle, yet serious voice, examining the heavy bands around her own wrists. "We have the life of captive birds now, but at least we get to live in a golden cage. You know we could've ended up in a place more dreadful…"

"Well, I guess you're right," Raven said after a while, deciding not to engage in an argument with the girl. "This fine cage will do to fatten us up, but only for the time being. We won't grow stronger if we never try our wings."

"Well said, boy!" Kenny clapped his hands together in approval.

"I've heard the Explorers are coming to town," Raven went on. "Here's our chance to find out more."

Kenny noticed how his steel eyes were fixed on him as he said that, searching for his own gaze and waiting for his sign of approval. He gave it with a slight nod of his head.

'So that was what kept your thoughts busy…' Kenny remarked to himself, now beginning to understand what the boy had been planning all along.

"I don't understand…" Crow was spreading out the leaflets on top of an empty crate, looking over them with a displeased frown. "Where's all the flashy advertisement for our guest stars?"

"I hate to break it to you, brat, but Miss Prim Rose and her partner Rosalind rejected our grand invitation to guest-star in the show," Kenny told her, already anticipating the girl's disappointment.

"Oh, no!" Crow exclaimed in dismay. "How could they?"

"Apparently, the girl said they only do charity performances outside the Contest Hall," Kenny replied. "And let's face it, filling up Reeves' wallet is as far from being charitable as the east is from the west. At least there're some goody two-shoes left in this world."

"Hypocrites, rather," Raven grunted scornfully.

"On second thought, however," Kenny went on, sizing them up with critical eyes, "perhaps I should've sent her a picture of you two, starving and abused brats. That might've changed her mind."

"I don't need anyone's charity," Raven said, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Then what should we do about the main attraction?" Crow asked with concern.

"We'll just pull off the usual."

"That's already boring…"

"Why's this centenary such a big deal?"

Raven's question was immediately met with a sharp sapphire glare, before the girl gave him an ominous grin, and suddenly disappeared out of the tent, only to return with a dressmaker's dummy. A frilly dress of black and white was displayed on it.

"If we can't have a Contest Star perform for us, then we still have our very own super-cute Ravenette!"

Raven rolled his eyes – it was quite evident that he had regretted ever telling them about wanting to put one of those dresses on, just for the hell of it. He had never expected that Crow would actually go as far as to make one fitted for him – he was still fighting a mental battle with himself to decide whether to feel grateful or annoyed for the girl's enthusiasm for anything flashy.

"Don't be such a gloomy brat, Raven," Kenny told him in his usual, scolding tone. "Crow here has gone through all the hard work to make that costume for you. At least show some gratitude."

"It's matching with mine!" the girl added, her eyes appearing glittery with enthusiasm. "And guess what! I even have a mask for you!" She went to show off the delicate thing ornamented with black and white feathers, while the boy was trying to suppress a sigh.

"How considerate," he said blankly. "Thanks."

Now that the both of them were around, and they were bound to get too noisy with Crow trying to persuade Raven to try the costume on right then and there, and the boy stubbornly refusing, Kenny did his best to finish up his work soon, then got up from the stool and stretched his limbs.

"Guess it's time for us to grab some grub," he announced, reaching for his dark purple fedora.

"Yuck…"

"Yay!"

"I've been planning to take you out for a meal tonight," Kenny continued as he reached into his inner pocket and produced a thick wad of cash. "We really deserve it, after all the shitty work those fatsos make us do."

"Yeah, have fun," Raven said, pulling on his mask again and preparing to leave the two of them.

"Why do you have to be such a party pooper?" Kenny stopped him, grabbing the boy by the back of his collar. "I said we're gonna go out and have a decent dinner for once, and I meant the three of us. You included, stupid brat."

Feeling a nudge at his leg, Kenny glanced down to see the little fox looking up at him with expectant green-blue eyes.

"Bring the whole gang if you must," he conceded, much to Crow's delight. "I happen to know a good place for people and creatures. Just try and keep the light-fingered from picking pockets tonight. It also seems to be a favourite spot with the Police Brigade. I don't want to spend the night in jail and miss out on the celebrations tomorrow."

"Then you really shouldn't bring me. I'd just stand out and attract their attention." Raven shrugged his hand off, then narrowed his eyes on the man suspiciously. "And more importantly, how come you have so much money?"

"Yeah, how come?" Crow joined the interrogation.

"I might've gone and ripped old Dimo off for a little extra, saying I needed to buy some expensive imported volcanic ash to ensure that the manes of his precious horses are blazing as bright as the sun, while in fact any old soot swept from an ordinary fireplace works just as fine. Ha-ha…"

Raven's expression remained unimpressed, while Crow appeared a bit uncertain.

"Shouldn't you rather save up that money, instead of spending it on us?" she asked. "You said you wanted to buy your own ranch one day, and…"

"And I also said I'd need little milkmaids and stable boys. I thought we were together in this."

"Ugh, who'd want to work for _you_?" Raven put in, not keen on the whole idea of a country life.

"Even if it's just a meal, wasting your earnings on us only takes you that much further away from fulfilling your dream," Crow insisted with the seriousness of one thrice her age. "Are you really okay with that?"

"Why do you have to ask such stupid questions, girl?" Kenny stared at her, exasperated. "As of now, I'm in charge of the well-being of the beasts and whatnot that belongs to Circus Reeves, including you, brats. So I can't even say I've earned this shitload of money if I don't do my job fair and make sure you're not starving."

Raven gave a scoff to that, and Crow didn't appear convinced, either.

"Fine. I think I still have some canned beans to serve you for dinner," Kenny went on, noticing with satisfaction the grimace of utter disgust forming on their features. "Either that, or a proper meal at the Dark Unicorn. Make your choices wise, brats. As for me and my partners, we'd definitely had enough of beans…"

It didn't take too long to bring Crow around, but Raven still remained hesitant.

"But-"

"I don't wanna hear about 'butts', got it?" Kenny interrupted, only to receive a dark glower.

"He's right. It shouldn't be a problem for you to join us, too," Crow added, producing a capsule and releasing something pink and slimy-looking from it. "Morphy is getting better at transformation each day. It should work as good as any mask!"

The face the creature made didn't look that promising at all…

~AoGM~

And so it happened, that after a good deal of coaxing, and against his better judgement, Raven still found himself persuaded to join the two of them, as well as their creatures, out onto the lamp-lit streets of Hermiha. Kenny might have said something about trying not to get into trouble, but he still decided to bring along both Jessie and James, and those two were really double the trouble with their ceaseless bickering. Crow had Mirage, the little fox-creature, sitting happily on her shoulder, and Raven had Noir walking alongside him.

And so he ended up sitting at a large corner table in the Dark Unicorn, with a bowl of thick, steaming hot stew in front of him, and a jelly-like mask on his face – which he could only hope bore a close enough semblance to a normal human face. He had quite a hell of a time finding where his own mouth was, and the creature didn't seem to be cooperative at all.

"An eye-patch would've served much better," Raven grumbled, after trying to eat some bread, but almost ended up shoving it into his nose.

"Why haven't I thought about that before?" Crow exclaimed in sudden realization. "We have lots of those among the props."

Raven rolled his eyes behind the jelly-mask. He had a hunch that he would very much regret that outing later. He didn't understand why Kenny had to choose that particular tavern, which was practically swarming with the members of the Police Brigade and their huge-ass creatures.

Not that Raven wasn't used to the sight of fully evolved monsters, but the ones the Police Brigade owned were really something else: they were all great and bulky, and looked rather intimidating. Not to him, though – Raven believed himself quite fearless when it came to monsters. It was on his own skin that he had experienced the worst of the power possessed by those brought up in wrong hands and used for the wrong purposes – the thing he was trying to hide from the prying eyes was a reminder. But in the end, he had survived, and that was all that mattered.

As for the mystery of why Kenny had decided to take them out to that particular place, the reason soon became evident when Raven stole a glance at the man, and noticed his eyes casually sweeping over the customers in the tavern, but from time to time, and very subtly, his gaze would return to a certain table, where a group of Police soldiers were sitting, engaged in some conversation over their dinner.

Raven wondered what could possibly have piqued Kenny's interest about them – as far as he was concerned, they were all useless courtiers, suck-ups to the King – exactly the kind of people he felt they shouldn't get themselves involved with.

Still, Raven found his eyes lingering on their table longer than he intended to, not even noticing that his stew had already gone cold enough for him to start eating. Sitting next to him, Noir had long finished slurping up his own bowl of raw eggs, and had his keen eyes fixed in the same direction.

There was an azure blue one-horned monster with the soldiers – it had large spiny ears, and it might have faintly resembled a rabbit, had it not been for its strong tail and sharp claws and fangs. Raven found himself wondering how creatures could look so absurd and powerful – yet at the same time he found something strangely beautiful and alluring about them.

"Stop staring." Kenny's voice came in a low, but harsh whisper, snapping him out of his daze. "Remember what I told you: don't get yourself noticed, and you won't get-"

The man's attention was briefly drawn by the sound of the soldiers getting up from their table to leave, and he found a pair of sharp black eyes, framed in gold-rimmed glasses, locked steadily on them. Instead of walking straight for the door, a soldier began advancing towards their table, with the one-horned creature at his side, and another soldier in tow.

"Screw that now," Kenny cursed under his breath.

Crow quickly pretended to eat, scraping up the leftovers on her plate, while Raven sat completely still over his untouched food.

"I believe this tavern shouldn't be admitting minors," the soldier with the penetrating black eyes stated with an air of authority. "I must ask you to present your documents of identification."

"Glad to be of service, sir," Kenny got out between his teeth, then suddenly grabbed Raven's wrist, pulling up the long sleeve of his loose shirt and presenting the iron band for the Police soldier to see. He gave a curt nod to Crow to do the same, then he went on in the same tone, "You see, officer sir, these here are no children at all. They're the property of Circus Reeves, not much different from the creatures you keep, and I'm their keeper."

From his jacket pocket, Kenny fished out a crumpled document paper and smoothed it out on the table in front of the soldier, who inspected it carefully.

"The house rules might say that kids are not allowed in here, but would you call these miserable brats humans, who share the same status with the monsters? And as far as I can see, there's no problem allowing them in to have a hearty meal." With one arm, he made a wide, theatrical swipe over the tavern interiors. A noisy company was sitting at one of the tables, their monkey-like creatures gobbling up food with great gusto. "As a man so well acquainted with the laws of this land, wouldn't you agree with me on that?"

The spectacled soldier didn't move to turn and have a look, and his gaze never wandered, either, but he kept on staring Kenny square in the eye, his lips pulled into a tense line. Kenny had noticed earlier the medal he was wearing pinned onto his royal-blue coat: it was the Acuity Ribbon, ornamented with a round, opalescent jewel and rewarded to the Elite Soldier of the Police Division – which meant that he was dealing with the top dog among all the royal puppies, so he had done better to choose his words carefully.

"What's up with his face?" the other soldier suddenly remarked, pointing at Raven, who quickly turned away from the man's inquisitive eyes, touching the jelly-like mask with both hands and realizing with horror how loose it felt under his fingers.

"What's up with _your_ face?" Crow promptly returned the question, springing up from her place, her eyes spitting cold fire at the soldier, who was ready to pull out his sword and take retribution for the insult, but the other one stepped forward and interrupted the gesture.

"Easy, girl," Kenny told Crow from over the table.

However, his tone only made her even more furious, as the girl realized that he was talking to her the exact same way he would try to pacify one of the circus creatures he tamed. Nevertheless, she collapsed back onto her seat, silently fuming with anger.

Raven had managed to make Morphy form a solid mask for him again. Still, he refused to face them, although he could feel the pair of dark black eyes fixed on him.

"Slaves should learn to curb their tongues," the other soldier spat, his voice thick with disgust. "I swear they're worse than monsters."

Hearing his disparaging words, Raven's body began moving on an angry impulse, but a strong kick from Kenny under the table made an immobilizing pain shoot through his left leg, so he remained seated, with teeth gritted and eyes staring ahead at the meat and vegetables swimming in his bowl, instead of seeking to return that haughty gaze.

"I'm on it, officers," Kenny assured the soldiers, addressing mainly the one with the glasses. "You know how it is with young creatures: you have to break them before they become good and obedient. Even such fine, great monsters as yours, sir."

The azure-coloured creature gave a growl, not as deep as one might have expected from its looks, but none the less threatening.

"Indeed," the spectacled soldier remarked coldly, then turned to the other man, "Let us go, Sanes."

The Elite Soldier threw their company a last, condescending glance, before turning to leave without another word, his creature and fellow soldier following him out of the tavern.

"That's why I _hate_ the Police," Raven said, prying away the jelly-creature from his face. He didn't care anymore who was looking at them – the previous scene had been humiliating enough. "They're such a bunch of stuck-up assh-"

"Finish your dinner, Raven," Kenny cut him off sharply.

"And you!" the boy continued indignantly, covering his right eye with a palm. "The way you went on talking about us as if we weren't even human, as if we were just…"

He couldn't finish his sentence – it hurt him too much, mostly for Crow's sake, and especially for hearing something like that from Kenny, of all people in that damn twisted world.

"Do I have to keep reminding you of the first rule of survival in this world, Raven?" Kenny sighed, exasperated. "Lie, pretend, suck up to people. Words are only words, actions are staged acts, even your own skin is an ever-altering mask to adapt as the scenario changes. All of those don't have to reflect your true heart at all. If they do, then you become vulnerable. An easy prey. You do get what I mean?"

Raven began eating his cold stew without much appetite. He had one elbow propped up on the table as he was still covering his right eye. He was listening, though. Still, no lecture from the man could make it any better for him.

"Think about it as your special form of freedom," Kenny continued, in an attempt to cool their heads a bit. "You brats get to see and learn stuff all the sheltered pipsqueaks of your age never get the chance to experience."

"Like what a whip looks like up close, or feeling the pain burning into their own skin?" Raven asked with grim sarcasm, wiping his thin mouth on a handkerchief.

"Those are all making you stronger. You earn your feathers one at a time, until the day you learn how to fly. And I believe it'd come sooner than you expect," Kenny replied, but to Raven, his words didn't sound convincing enough.

"I think what Kenny has in mind are all the places we have a chance to visit with the traveling circus," Crow put in, trying to support the man's endeavours. She had always been the one more easily talked into compliance. "Isn't it kind of wonderful, seeing all these different towns, meeting all kinds of creatures? Just look at all the luxury of the Acuity District, like… like dining out in such a fancy restaurant!"

"It's only a second-rate tavern," Raven said dismissively, seeing how the girl was trying way too hard to convince even herself.

"And I was meaning to be all gallant and generous," Kenny put in, his mood darkening. "At least Crow can appreciate my efforts, but you, brat, you're just totally not worth breaking my neck."

"Tell us, then, what kind of life would satisfy you, if all we have is not good enough?" Crow called him out on that. "What life could be any better for us, slaves?"

Raven remained silent. His dreams were too bold, too absurd to reveal to the two of them…

_There comes a day when we shall become adventurers, travelling the wide world beyond these walls,_

_Brave explorers who cannot be subdued and tamed, pushing through in spite of it being dangerous or reckless…_

~AoGM~

'I don't feel cute at all…'

Standing outside the big tent and grumbling to himself, Raven wasn't particularly trying his very best to attract audience for the circus. He was feeling like a complete fraud, dressed up as a girl in the harlequin costume, half-heartedly advertising a show he already knew wasn't going to be anything nearly as novel or spectacular as the flashy words on the leaflets promised. He knew each of the attractions inside-out, and was already tired of them all.

'Why can't I feel content with a life like this?'

His argument with Crow and Kenny the previous night was still very much bothering him – were those two right, and was he really behaving like an ungrateful brat who couldn't appreciate all the things he had?

He cast down his gaze to the black and white stripes running across his stockinged legs, taking in the elaborate details of his frilly skirt, the sparkling spangles and small decorative buttons sewn on with so much care. He had to suppress a sigh.

'If we're captive birds living in a gilded world of illusion, we might as well go ahead and enjoy the small freedoms such a life allows us to experience, right?'

He was trying too hard to convince himself. It wasn't working. In his heart, he knew he hated it all. The only thing that interested him was true freedom, not some cheap illusion. The only thing catching his eyes in that garish crowd was the emblem with the monochrome wings of Truth and Ideals on the uniform of the Explorers.

The sigh he had been trying to keep inside finally escaped his chest.

'…Please, come and take me far, far away from this awful place.' Inwardly, he was laughing at himself for making such a pitiful wish, even though his longing for a change was every bit genuine. 'Someone…'

"A nice day we have, young miss."

Raven turned to face a tall soldier, not quite sure whether it was him being addressed in that all too pleasant tone, but then he found the soldier's icy blue eyes looking directly into his own. And that was the moment Raven got the feeling that the stupidest thing ever had just happened to him: as if in answer to his silent prayer, Prince Charming himself had stepped out from the pages of some dusty, tacky storybook.

"A nice day indeed, Mr Blondie," he replied, sizing the man up with a quick glance, then turning promptly away. However, the stranger proved to be rather persistent.

"I wonder whether you care for a dance."

'Well-groomed rich boy used to getting everything he wants, huh,' Raven concluded to himself, not wasting his time seeking for a reply. 'Well, too bad…'

"I don't."

And that could have been the end of their chance acquaintance – only it wasn't. The moment he caught sight of the black-and-white wings on the soldier's back, the cold blue of those eyes – as if remembering a long-forgotten memory, something was beginning to move deep inside his core, working stronger than his own will.

However, when later recalling the events of that day, finding that in spite of his best efforts, he couldn't get that damn handsome soldier out of his head, all Raven would feel would be a deep disgust with his own self…

~AoGM~

Raven could envision the man's tall figure standing behind him, he could hear him flexing the whip in his hand. He gritted his teeth again in anticipation of the impact, finding the delay even more torturous. He just wanted to get over with it – he wasn't sure anymore how long he could last, how long he could keep his human face, before the monster took over.

A metallic clang sounded, and he slowly turned his face to the side to see that Kenny had tossed the whip into a corner, against the iron bars of a cage, startling the creatures inside. Then came the shuffling sound of feet, spurs clicking with each approaching step as the man walked up in front of him again.

"_Slash."_ The man's voice was calm and quiet as he gave the command, and in a blink of an eye, the mongoose moved to obey his master, cutting away the ropes binding Raven's wrists. He was about to collapse onto his knees, but Kenny caught him with firm arms, and lifted him off of the podium. That was the moment someone came bursting into the tent.

"I'll take the rest of his punishment!" Crow said in a desperate voice. "Kenny, please! Don't hurt him any more!"

The man kept staring down into the watery sapphire eyes, taking notice of the solid determination in their depths. Raven was struggling weakly in his arms in an attempt to protest. Kenny had to acknowledge that the two of them were really something, standing up for each other, no matter what.

"My job with him is not finished yet, but you can assist me, if you want," he told the girl, then hauled Raven up onto his shoulder, and began walking away.

Crow shrank back as Jessie slithered past her, but James remained there standing, waiting for her to move, too. She wasn't sure anymore what was on Kenny's mind: he kept such a straight face that it was impossible to read his intentions – and it made her scared. Still, she didn't need James's claws poking into her back to follow the man and make sure he wasn't planning to do any more harm to her 'Brother'…

~AoGM~

Somehow, Raven expected to be thrown onto the hard, cold and damp floor of a dark dungeon cell – those memories would keep haunting him, no matter how desperately he was trying to erase them.

But instead of the dungeons, he found himself being pushed face-down on some dirty sheets, the mixed smell of tobacco and cheap cologne making his nose wrinkle.

"Ugh, disgusting," he grunted, trying to lift his head up. "These sheets stink. Ever thought about changing them?"

"Not so long ago, you'd sleep in this very same bed without any complaint," Kenny told him, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I never expected that one day you'd grow into such a picky princess."

Raven's face flushed slightly at the man's uncalled-for remark, even so as he noticed that Crow was present, too. They were inside Kenny's caravan, the girl standing about and shifting from foot to foot, as if unsure about what to do.

"Make yourself useful, girl," Kenny told her, reaching for a wooden box and taking out a bottle of antiseptic and dabbing a generous amount of the liquid onto a wad of cotton. Raven winced when it made contact with the raw wounds on his back.

"Delicate, aren't we, Ravenette," Kenny remarked in a half-mocking tone, continuing to clean the wounds. "Back in the tent, you wouldn't as much as make a sound, but among better company, you'd start bitching and bossing people around. Impressive. I see you're already rehearsing for the role of Queen."

"Damn you," Raven cursed between his teeth. "Where did you pull such stupid nonsense?"

"A little birdie told me you're aiming as high as the Palace," Kenny replied with a meaningful wink.

"Heh, wasn't that rather a venomous viper hissing in your ear?" Raven threw an angry glance at Jessie, convinced that she had been the one telling on him. The creature responded by letting out a low hiss from between her long, sharp fangs.

Crow blinked at them, totally lost to what they were talking about. She did notice that Raven had been acting quite strange lately, and especially after that particular day. Still, she couldn't understand what brought about such a change: he became bolder, but at the same time, more reckless.

"Hey, little nursie," Kenny called to her again. "I didn't ask you here to be of no use at all. Go and fetch Madame Lutine for me, will you."

He gestured towards a large ornamented birdcage sitting on top of a round table. A number of small, pink creatures were fluttering inside, emitting a faint, pleasant fragrance. Crow approached the cage, unlatching the small door and putting her hand inside to pull out the glittering capsule which was placed atop a soft velvet cushion of deep purple. She brought it to Kenny, who released a creature bigger than the bird-like ones in the cage, bearing a closer resemblance to a powder puff.

"Rise and shine, old girl," Kenny told the creature called Lutine, who was now sitting sleepily in an armchair, blinking her large and thick-lashed eyes in apparent perplexity.

'_The show is over, I won't perform any more tonight,'_ she claimed, smoothing out the soft feathers that made up her pink, fluffy skirt.

"Nobody's asking you to dance the can-can or stand on top of your head," Kenny said, his tone anything but flattering. At that moment, he had no patience to deal with divas in smooth words. "But I do need a little favour here. Nothing more but the usual cherry pie. Just fix up this brat, and I'll be a bit more generous when handing out the potpourri for all your efforts."

The creature's red eyes narrowed a bit as she leaned closer to inspect the injured boy laid out on the bed. Heaving a sigh of displeasure, she shook her head, before stretching out both her small purple arms, three carefully manicured claws on each. She let out a soft, soothing pulse over the damaged skin, and the wound began closing up.

'_It's only this much I can do for him,'_ Lutine said, sinking back among the cushions of the armchair. _'If he keeps on going like that, the marks on his skin would remain permanent.'_

The creature wouldn't admit it, but she felt rather deeply for those unfortunate human children with their inferior healing abilities. Yet, even she could understand that they possessed some kind of mysterious power which was on par with the abilities of her own kind, only they were both too immature to make full use of it. And so she would often watch them, noticing how they gradually became stronger – through vibrant laughter, through silent pain. And she would help them erase those scars her power allowed her to heal.

"Well, brat, wanna hear the good news? Even if those scars remain, all you have to do is play your cards right," Kenny told the boy in a teasing tone. "Just make sure your much-beloved King never gets to see your ugly side before the wedding night. Once you've said your vows-"

"…Shut up," Raven replied, after delivering an energetic kick between the man's ribs, then he went to bury his burning face into the pillows.

"Care to let me in on your little private jokes?" Crow asked with a sulky pout. She was sitting in another armchair close by, feeling left out.

"Heh, I can't even say it's men's business anymore," Kenny grinned. "How you little brats grow up so fast. I already feel like an old man."

"You _are_ an old man," Raven corrected him.

"Well, we should probably celebrate."

"I don't think there's anything to celebrate." Raven sat up, trying to cover his upper body with the tattered remains of his torn costume. He was feeling awful: guilty, humiliated. And Kenny's teasing was no help at all.

"There isn't, is it…" Crow spoke in a low voice, her eyes reflecting concern. "While you were in the tent, I overheard our owner talking about a message he got, and… It said something about Giants in the Valor District… And how the Explorers failed… Say, what do you think? Could it be real? That the Giants…?"

Her whole body was trembling again, as if she were exposed to extreme cold – but the sensation was coming from the inside, her deep-rooted fear of the Monsters reawakened.

Hearing such alarming rumours, even Kenny's expression darkened for a moment.

"Seems like even the Explorers are not infallible," Raven made a low remark, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Well, Valor is still far enough to be our concern," Kenny said in his usual, carefree tone. He got up from the bed and called back the gently snoozing Madame Lutine into her capsule, then went to search his closet for a shirt, and tossed it to Raven, who reluctantly accepted it. Then, he picked up a bunch of keys from a table and grabbed a couple of spare blankets, before opening up the door of his caravan and sending the two a glance which told them that it was as far as his hospitality went.

"The Boss told me to lock you up."

Crow sighed, and followed him and Raven outside, to a great cage used to transport bigger creatures. Thankfully, it was empty, save for a stack of straw tucked into a corner.

"That's what they do to slaves," Kenny went on in a matter-of-fact tone, opening up the creaky gate for them. "We can't have them being pampered like delicate Princes and Princesses. Nobody's gonna wipe your asses for you, brats."

"We got that, Kenny, so just shut up," Raven hissed, exasperated by the man's eloquent words of wisdom.

"In you go, then." Kenny gave them a hand as they both climbed inside. He tossed the blankets after them, then shut the cage door and clicked the heavy padlock back on. "I'd tell you a nice bedtime story-"

"No, thanks," Raven interrupted.

"-but I still have some work to do in the stables. I'll check on Mirage and Noir later," he assured the two of them, guessing the concern of their hearts.

"How kind of you."

"Thank you, Kenny."

"Nighty-nighty."

The man walked away into the night, leaving the two of them alone with the stars.

"Just like good old times…" Raven remarked with a mirthless scoff, draping a blanket around himself and retreating to the back of the cage, his back against the wooden boards.

"Raven…?" Crow began in a timid voice, crawling close to sit by his side. "What are you and Kenny…?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," he replied promptly, pulling up the blanket to his nose.

"Are you really serious about that soldier?" the girl continued prodding.

"He's probably dead." The moment he said those words out loud, he felt a dull pang in his chest. If there was any truth in the rumours, then there must have been countless deaths. If the Giants had managed to get in, then it was only a matter of time before the Fortress ceased to be protection for all of humanity. Strangely, what he found in himself wasn't fear, but anticipation.

"Isabel," he spoke the girl's name, barely above a whisper, not sure whether she was still awake, but when the girl stirred next to him, looking with her sapphire eyes directly into his own, he went on, "Do you think I'm a freak?"

"No!" she replied immediately, shuffling to kneel in front of him and bringing up both hands to touch his face. "Why would I ever think anything so vile? You saved me from a dreadful life, you've been through a lot, but we were also together, and we're the same. We made a promise to be always there for each other, and to keep each other's secret safe. I'd never go back on those words, so you can trust me. You can tell me the same things you tell Kenny…"

"So that's the thing eating you," Raven said, searching the girl's expression for confirmation, but it was there clear enough: she was jealous of Kenny. What a stupid thing to work herself up about, he thought.

"I'll tell you something even better," he said after a while, pulling Crow closer so that they could benefit better from the warmth their blankets provided them. "Something I wouldn't tell Kenny, just you. A story…"

~AoGM~

"So that's the situation, huh." Kenny rubbed the stubble on his chin with a look of consternation, while James gave a curt nod. The mongoose was sitting on a barrel, munching on a box of Rage Dumplings he evidently wasn't planning to share with Jessie – not after receiving a nasty jab while their Master happened to be looking the other way.

Kenny heaved a sigh, mentally preparing himself for the possibility that things would suddenly get more intense than he wished them to be. He went and grabbed the buckets full of clear water, and brought them in for the horse-creatures to drink in the stable, then he emptied a sack of charcoal and began grinding the large pieces to mix them into the fodder.

As he was thus occupied by his work, he could feel a gust of chilly air coming from the open stable door. He suppressed another grunt.

"Well, well. If it isn't the sparkling Miss Aurore and her beautiful DiamondDust!" he said in a voice cordial enough as he turned to look at them enter.

The girl was wearing a long coat dress of pure white, the large buttons sewn on it glittering like diamonds – and they might as well been real gemstones, knowing how affluent the girl's relations were. She was holding her brown-furred pet piglet in her arms, and the creature's pink snout moved curiously as it sniffed the air.

For a moment, Kenny wondered whether it was Dimo who had sent his niece in order to check up on his work, but soon it would become clear to him that the girl had chosen to come of her very own will, which would later cause him considerable trouble.

"Been to another Contest?" Kenny asked conversationally, not remembering having seen the girl around all day – and her presence was really hard to miss.

"Oh, I did so wish to be here and see your grand show!" Aurore said in an affected voice.

"You didn't miss anything worth seeing," Kenny remarked under his breath, pushing the brown piglet aside with the tip of his boot. The creature had been sniffing around his special mix of charcoal and fodder, and he didn't like it poking its snout into his business.

"But you see, I learned that my arch rival wouldn't be performing today in Stohess Hall, so finally it was my chance to shine!"

Kenny rolled his eyes in exasperation. He hoped that if he ended up damned in hell, he would receive a more merciful punishment than having to suffer listening to a teenage girl going on endlessly about her adventures of petty rivalry.

"So, I gather you managed to outshine all the rest of them," Kenny concluded, getting up from where he was seated and walking over to a creature to groom it. He knew already that with the girl, company only came second to the pleasure of bragging, and he would have no peace until her need to gush over the Contest was satisfied.

"We came runner-up in the Super Rank of the Beauty Contest," the girl said, pulling her lips into a disappointed pout.

"Isn't that good enough?"

"At this rate, I'll never reach Master Rank," the girl complained. "I want my picture to be painted in all the fashionable magazines! I want to make sure that Miss Prim Rose's fame withers like a short-lived flower, while I stand shining like a diamond, my fame ever-lasting as a NeverMeltIce!"

Kenny didn't want to be the one to burst her bubble, so he remained silent all the while Aurore spoke, pretending to listen while in fact he was more occupied by making progress in tending to the horses. The day had been tedious enough as it was, and he planned to turn in early – but not before he fulfilled his promise to the brats.

"Can't you please help me with that?" the girl asked, suddenly appearing uncomfortably close to him. "You know so much about these beasts. Perhaps you can give me some advice, or point out a creature with exceptional beauty?"

Aurore's black eyelashes fluttered ever so slightly as she turned her big blue eyes up at him, and that was the moment Kenny finally began to see daylight: whatever the girl wanted, it probably had little to do with the horses or the Contest.

"Well, Estelle here has the most beautiful form and the shiniest mane," he replied, giving a light pat to the horse's flank. "And as for good advice, you're a smart enough girl to be familiar with the old proverb about playing with fire, so…"

He was about to edge out from the stall, only to find his way blocked by the girl's small frame. With an exaggeratedly graceful motion of her hand, she flipped her long silky black strands over her shoulder.

"You never said anything of my hair," the girl reproached him. "Or haven't you even noticed my new _hime_-cut? It's all the rage in the Capital."

"It suits you well," Kenny told her curtly. Even if it was only a subtle change, the girl almost always looked different every other day, and it had long become a mental challenge for him to keep up with all that. Besides, he was never really attracted to dark-haired women – he preferred ginger-blondes, when it came to that.

"Why, thank you," Aurore acknowledged his compliment, throwing in a well-practiced smile Kenny guessed was meant to be enchanting. Perhaps it worked on the stage, but not on him.

'You're doing it so wrong, girl,' he thought to himself as he squeezed past her with a strained smirk, only to find the girl skipping over to stand in front of him again, so he turned to walk back further into the stable. Aurore followed wherever he went, nagging him with questions about the horses, and Kenny answered them with ever dwindling patience.

"Do you think I can borrow one of them for the next Contest?"

"Ask your Uncle Dimo about that."

"Aw, Kenny, what if he says 'no'?" she went on in that same, affected tone. "Couldn't you keep it our little secret?"

Kenny wasn't even sure anymore whether Aurore was still talking about the horses, or something completely different. All he could see was how the girl was making a dangerous advance on him, and that the stool he had been sitting on previously was right in the way, and if she didn't watch her step, then she might very well end up tripping on it and…

"Oh," Aurore breathed a soft exclamation as she landed very conspicuously in his arms.

Kenny cursed inwardly for letting himself fall into such an obvious trap. But then again, he couldn't let his employer's precious niece sprawl in the hay-strewn floor of the stable, dirtying her expensive white coat, so he didn't have much other choice but to offer his assistance, however reluctantly it was given.

And damn, did the shrewd wench make the best of the situation, clinging to him as if for dear life. He realized how wrong it was to remain so close, for more than one reason, but at the same time, he could also see that there was no good way for him to get out of the situation unscathed. He found himself faced with a serious moral dilemma: if he failed to please the whims of that pampered princess, she might go and tell some nasty lie to Dimo about him trying to seduce her, and then he would surely get the sack. On the other hand, Aurore wasn't his type at all. Hell, she was only a brat, not more than seventeen, and he was already twenty-three. Even if it were the end of the world, Kenny doubted he would ever have felt even remotely attracted to the girl.

The sound of flapping wings came from the window as a jet-black bird landed on the sill. While his attention was momentarily distracted by the creature, Aurore took the opportunity to press her sticky, Berry-flavoured lips against his own.

"Hail-to-the-Crown," the bird spoke in a croaking voice, completely ruining the moment. But for Kenny's ears, that was the sound of deliverance, because Aurore finally pulled away from him, and he could discreetly turn to wipe off the lip gloss stuck on his mouth.

"Oh, did that bird speak just now?" Aurore turned to the creature with apparent curiosity. "I never knew Uncle Dimo had that kind of talking birds in the circus."

"Well, creatures come and go. You know how it is," Kenny replied automatically, trying to pry away the girl's hands from around his waist as gently as he could. "Look, Aurore. I don't think your Uncle would approve-"

"He wouldn't have to know," she replied lightly, pulling her lips into a coquettish smile. "For the kiss, you lend me the horse. Or do you think it's worth more?"

"What I think is that you're not old enough for all this," Kenny replied, tired of the girl's stubbornness. The fact that the black bird appeared was a bad omen, once he realized where it came from – he should have expected it already, given the current turmoil most of the people were still blissfully ignorant about. That was really the worst time to play around with a whimsical teenager whose mind was at the moment clouded by the visions of some wild romance he wanted to play no part in.

Still, he couldn't just go and tell the cruel truth in her face, but it wasn't fair to feed her with false hope, either. Somehow he had to make her see it for herself, so he decided to bear with her for a little longer.

"You know the tale about the beast and the bird?" he asked, and Aurore shook her head, appearing a bit confused for the sudden change of topic.

Kenny seated himself on a barrel close to the window, letting the girl sit on his lap – he would do the same with Raven and Crow when they were younger, so it was nothing he wasn't used to. His work had taught him how to care for young creatures, and he found that it wasn't much different from treating children – and while those two were forced into maturity at an earlier age, he could see it clearly that compared to thirteen-year-old Crow and fifteen-year-old Raven, with all her years of advantage over them, Aurore was still more like a child than a young woman. So he decided to tell her a story.

"Once long ago, there lived an ordinary man," Kenny began his tale. "One day, he went into a dark forest, but as he walked in deeper and deeper, he found he had lost his path, and didn't even know where to find a way out. So he ended up wandering the dark forest for many years, experiencing many a terrible thing, but soon he had to realize that those had become his very core. Without him noticing it, the darkness had devoured him, turning the man into a villainous beast. His soul became as black as the feathers of that bird over there. But strangely enough, it was a tiny black bird who made him human again, by deciding to join him as a companion and serve as constant reminder that somewhere in his heart, he was still a man, and not a monster."

"I see," Aurore said after a while, nodding thoughtfully. "So the bird was like his conscience."

"I knew you were a smart girl, Aurore. And I'm sure you can understand that there are dangerous men out there. You shouldn't let your guard down even with things beautiful. Don't play with fire, and you won't get yourself burned. Now, go back to the inn and entertain your dear kinsfolk, I'm sure they need a little light in their lives as well."

The girl gathered up her pet piglet and walked out of the stable, sending him a last, longing glance, while Kenny tried his best to ignore it. He had more important things to occupy him at the moment.

"'Both the light and the shadow', huh." That day came back to him again, reminding him that once he left the bird, he would turn into a beast again. He didn't want that. Neither did he want the bird to leave him of his own will.

'The bird belongs to the one who catches it, not to the one who lets it go,' he recalled the old proverb. He caught them, and he would keep them, even if he were to become a villain. Those were his final thoughts before he gave the black bird the second part of the password.

"Inferno to the Monsters."

~AoGM~

"Imagine living like a human being," Raven's voice sounded in the dark, soft and lulling. "Having a proper bed to sleep in, and a fireplace to keep you warm. To sit at the table in the kitchen, and eat three full meals a day."

The mere thought of not having to worry about food made the girl's stomach give an audible growl, reminding her that the last time they had a full course of dinner was as far back as the other day.

"What would it be like to have a family?" Raven continued. "A gentle, forbearing father, a scary, worrying mother; to share in their love with a bunch of siblings – naughty, noisy, wimpy brats."

Crow giggled, snuggling up closer to him. She had never thought about having any other family again but Raven. Still, in her mind's eye, every word he spoke painted a picture as vivid as reality.

"Imagine the gentle breeze on your face as you lie outside in the flowery meadows, watching the vanes go round and round on the windmills," the boy said, something like longing reflected in his silvery eyes as he kept them fixed on the star-sprinkled sky. "Even if the wind howled or rain poured down all night, you'd have a roof above your head to protect you. When would you ever get bored with such a life?"

"It sure sounds nice," Crow replied with a sigh, but at the same time noticed the look in those eyes hardening into cold ice.

"Say, if the world inside these walls were humanity's only home, would you still dare to touch the door that leads beyond?"

She didn't know how to answer that question. In spite of her resolve to follow him even to the end of the world, the thought of stepping beyond the threshold of the Fortress – or even just peering through the keyhole – made her tremble to her core.

"…I sure as hell would," Raven said in a low, but serious voice.

And he wasn't the only one feeling that way: in the southern parts of the far-away Valor District, there used to live a young boy who cherished the same dreams.

However, that day, everything changed…

* * *

**Next Chapter**

In its unevolved form, the caterpillar does little apart from selfishly sating its huge appetite, until it becomes strong enough to reach its first stage of evolution. Encasing itself in a hard cocoon, the caterpillar continues existing in a self-absorbed world, preparing for the next change to come.

Some would argue that the evolution of human society is working along similar principles. As with the caterpillar, ultimately there are two options for humanity: either to reach maturity and break free from those protective confines, or to be stuck within and decay in immaturity. In our case, the outcome depends greatly on whether we possess the power of will to face that change with unfaltering valour…

**When Everything Changed**

**Omens &amp; Punishment**


	6. Changed

**When Everything Changed**

**Omens &amp; Punishment**

_Anything you think of with a name  
There isn't anything in life that ever stays the same…_

Standing high up in the arched window of the church tower, she looked upon the small figure – a boy who, although a mere child, had set himself apart from the people of the town with his strong will and rare wisdom so few of them who lived inside the Walls could call it their own, let alone understand.

Yet, because of those traits, he was frowned upon by the same people who were supposed to be his own kind – only she could see that he was different. Even though he had been born into the confined world of the Fortress, he was at heart an Outsider – just like herself.

And so she could feel for him, even though she had never in her life felt even an ounce of sympathy towards any of those creatures: what she had learned about them was that humans were deceitful, pretending courtesy to one another's face, but whispering foul words behind the other's back. They also seemed to find some secret pleasure in picking out certain individuals from among them, labelling them as 'abnormal', just because their thoughts and actions wouldn't conform to the community's herd mentality – in her eyes, they were indeed no better than cattle.

The words of the preacher only barely reached her sharp ears as she was focusing her attention on the conversation taking place on the square below – she had already listened to those sermons many times, how they would give praise to the Walls and the Guardian Spirits who were believed to reside in them: Azelf, the creature of Willpower, protector of the outermost Valor District; Mesprit, the creature of Emotion, looking after the Verity District; and Uxie, the creature of Knowledge, guardian of the innermost Acuity District.

Their figures were but ornate carvings on the stone surface of the four gates which closed off each wall, separating the three districts – their existence but a mere myth. She found bitter irony in the fact that humanity would choose to worship some of her kind, while condemn others, and would even found their strong belief in the impenetrableness of the Walls on the assumption that those spirits were their god-like protectors and benefactors.

But what if those were whimsical gods, with a purpose different than to look after the people inside the Fortress for the end of the times? What if they decided to put them to the test – their spirits, their hearts, their minds?

She could already sense that the dawn of the new day would bring a drastic change. And the boy _knew_, but his words of warning fell on deaf ears.

"Cassandra predicted the fall of Troy, and the death of many," she murmured to herself, her green eyes never leaving that one, small figure. "Yet, they deemed her a madwoman, and nobody ever heeded her words. Not until it was too late…"

'_BE READY TO PROTECT THIS TOWN!'_

The child's voice sounded loud and clear over the condemning murmurs of the people, drowning out even the preacher's persistent flow of words.

"Was it her fate, never to be believed, or was it her punishment?"

"Always pondering such depressing stuff, aren't we, Cassie?"

She glanced behind her back, a pair of red eyes flashing up in the shadows of the tower…

~AoGM~

Eren had slept through the night without another nightmare troubling him, and woke up refreshed in the morning. The scent of freshly baked bread filled his nose, and he could hear the chatter of a familiar voice. He climbed out of bed, scooping up a rather sleepy Hans in his arms, and went to the kitchen.

"Good morning, sleepy-head," Mikasa greeted him. His sister was sitting at the table with Greta on her lap, and Armin kneeling opposite her on his chair as the two of them were poring over a large book. The blond boy had brought over Marit, his favourite sheep-creature from the herd his grandfather took care of; and Ewert, a new-born shepherd puppy.

"'Morning," Eren said, stifling a yawn. He took his usual place beside Mikasa, leaning forward to look at the strange pictures in the book, until his mother put a bowl of porridge before him.

"Tales can wait, children. You should eat now," Carla said, putting food before each one of them, and also for their companions.

Eren could hear from her voice that his mother was still upset about all that she had learned the previous day. He took up his spoon without much appetite. Food still didn't have a taste for him, and knowing what impact his dream had on his family, his throat felt tight, making it hard to swallow. He was only half-listening to Armin talking about the fair and the centenary celebration. Somehow, he didn't feel in a festive mood at all.

'One hundred years of captivity,' he thought to himself, bitterness constricting his throat even more. 'It's shameful. It's humiliating. I'd rather-"

"Eren." Mikasa gave him a warning nudge with her elbow, speaking in a hushed voice, "You're agitating Hans and Greta."

Eren followed his sister's gaze and looked down at the foot of the table, where the two grey kittens were gathered around their shared bowl. Neither of them were eating – they both had their little hands up at their ears, pushing down on them, as if trying to cover them against something they didn't want to hear.

Eren took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then hunched his shoulders, bending over his bowl of food again.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, before stuffing his mouth with porridge, then he cleared his throat to say, "Mom, breakfast is delicious."

Carla turned around from the spotless kitchen sink, and gave him a kind smile. At least, it was a good sign: some kind of peace was restored. However, it wasn't long-lasting. Soon after that, his father stepped into the kitchen, dressed up for travel. Hulda was by his side, wearing a cloak, too.

"Are you going out today?" Eren asked, a bit hopeful that he might be allowed to join them.

"I'm visiting a patient in Stohess," Grisha replied, going through his bag for a second time to make sure he had everything he needed.

"Can I come, too?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible," his father replied with a gentle smile on his face. "Stohess is a town in the Acuity District. Nobody is allowed to just walk in there without a pass."

His father showed him a gilded piece of paper with a golden seal, before tucking it away safely into an inner pocket. Eren slumped back onto his seat, disappointed.

"Unless he's a soldier," he added in a grumpy voice, earning a hard glance from his mother.

"Enough of such talk already. Finish your breakfast," Carla told him crossly, and all pretence of peace was gone in an instant.

"I'm not hungry," Eren replied in a defiant voice.

"Eren," his father addressed him in a serious voice. "Why do you have such a strong wish to see the Outside?"

Eren was gripping hard at his spoon. Wasn't the answer obvious enough? Why was he even required to explain himself like that?

"Because I don't want to live in ignorance," he finally replied, trying to push down the burning anger in his throat. "Because I want to be free."

"You do understand that before you even consider leaving these walls, you should be thoroughly prepared of what you might encounter out there," Grisha said, his forbearing tone balancing the heaviness of his words.

"I do," Eren replied, trying to sound firm, in spite of the tremble in his voice. "That's why, even if I can't see the world outside, at least I want to know more about what the inside is like."

Carla was opening her mouth to give her son a sound scolding, knowing all too well that Eren was too stubborn to give up on his dreams so easily. Reading the situation, Armin suddenly sprang up from his seat, slapping closed the heavy volume he had brought with him and gathering it up in both arms.

"T-Thank you for the breakfast, Mrs Jäger. I think I should be going now," he said, gently steering his two companions towards the door.

Armin gave a nervous laugh when Eren glowered at him. Eren thought it was so typical of his best friend, trying to avoid being caught up in the middle of a storm of conflict.

"Have a safe journey, Doctor Jäger," Armin said politely, edging towards the front door. "Mikasa, Eren, see you at the fair!"

And with that, he scurried away, with Marit and Ewert in tow, leaving the family in a rather tense atmosphere. It was as if the sun had suddenly disappeared from the sky to give over its reign to the gathering storm clouds. Eren wondered when it would start showering down on his head.

Grisha's mild and forbearing expression remained unchanging, while Carla looked the polar opposite: hard and unrelenting.

"Eren," his father resumed, his grey-green eyes reflecting seriousness behind a pair of glasses. "I've been considering for a while to take you on as my apprentice."

"Really?" Eren choked out, honestly surprised. Being a doctor's apprentice meant that he would have at least as much freedom as to leave the outermost Valor District, and travel to the inner districts, perhaps even to Utopia, the Royal Capital.

Eren had heard countless tales from Armin about Utopia's splendour, although that wasn't really the reason why he wanted to journey the small, confined world of the Fortress. He had also learned that in the Acuity District, where most of the richest nobles lived, the restrictions on creature evolution weren't as strict, and so they had a variety of rare, fully evolved and tamed monsters Eren had only known from picture books.

"I believe you're old enough to start learning a trade," the Doctor resumed. "If you decided to take me up on that offer, I would gladly teach you to my best knowledge."

"Thank you, Father!" Eren burst out gratefully, ignoring his mother's disapproving frown and Mikasa's concerned looks. "That'd be great!"

"But before I can let you in on the research I've been working on all this time, you should prove yourself and your honest dedication."

"Yes!" Eren replied eagerly. The prospect of learning more about the world they lived in made him feel elated, and there was nothing he wouldn't have agreed to in order to make it all come true.

"When I come back from this journey, I will show you something I have always kept safe and secret in the basement." Grisha produced a blue capsule from his coat pocket, and released a creature of tarnished gold, a set of various keys jingling on a ring around its small body. Eren had never seen such creature before.

"My ferry should be departing soon," the Doctor said, calling back the key-ring, then putting his hat on while he took a last look at his family.

"Do you really have to go now, of all times?" Carla asked, with evident worry in her voice.

"I will be back as soon as I can," Grisha promised, pulling his wife into an embrace, then giving the children a parting hug in turn. "In the meantime, you should be preparing for the upcoming celebration, and enjoy the festivities."

"I wish you could be there with us, Father," Mikasa said softly, tugging at the Doctor's sleeve, as if she could make him stay just by holding onto the crisp piece of cloth.

"I wish I could, too," Grisha replied with a faint, affectionate smile. "But we shall see each other again in a couple of days." Mikasa gave a small nod, her hand sliding back to her side, and the Doctor turned to Eren again, "Until then, remember: once I stepped over the threshold, you would be the man of the house. Make sure everyone is safe while I'm away."

"Yes, sir!" Eren replied firmly, then followed Grisha and Hulda out of the house, and waved to them until they turned a corner into another street, heading for the docks.

"I can see clear enough what's on your mind, young man, and I'll tell you as many times as I need to," Carla spoke again, her voice stern, "As long as I live, I would never let you join that group of fools."

"Who are you calling fools?" Eren snapped back at her, anger burning his face once again. "Aren't those who're living content like this more foolish? They don't even know anymore what freedom is! If it weren't for the Explorers' work, all humanity would be nothing better than mindless puppets. I won't let all their hard work and sacrifice go to waste! I'm joining the Explorers one day, and that's it! Even _you_ can't stand in my way!"

Eren broke into a run, disappearing into a narrow street, while all Carla could do was to gasp, speechless, looking at his retreating back. She collapsed down on the stone steps, struggling to fight back a bitter sob.

She _knew_ – the helplessness and humiliation of being caged; the despair of being hunted and locked up in darkness like a monster. She had held that darkness long enough in her heart, and only the birth of Eren had managed to chase those shadows away – and she didn't want her only son, her own flesh and blood, to experience the cruelty of the world on his own skin.

However, the peaceful world she and Grisha had managed to build around them, the small and warm world of their family, was already getting cold as ice, slowly cracking and waiting to shatter into pieces. Eventually, truth would break through the illusion – no-one could conceal their true nature. Perhaps it was their fate.

Carla was trembling in her entire body in fear of those men riding their iron-clad horses, deep green capes flying out behind them, with the wings of Ideals and Truth…

A small hand fell onto her shoulder, and she stopped shaking. Carla looked up into the pair of charcoal-black eyes, before grabbing the girl firmly by the shoulders.

"You have to promise me something, Mikasa," she said, looking into the alert dark gaze with her imploring brown eyes. "The way he is going now, my child is bound to get himself into great danger. Whatever path he might choose to tread on, you should always be there for each other."

"Yes, Mom," Mikasa nodded solemnly.

"Promise me you would lend him your strength when he needs it," Carla said in a strained whisper, taking the girl's hand in her own, her cold fingers touching the bracelet Mikasa was always wearing around her right wrist. "The strength within your heart. No matter how far he goes or how much he changes, you should always make sure he returns safe and continues to be himself. Promise me."

Mikasa looked down at the heart-shaped charm dangling from her bracelet, now placed on her palm. She gave her word without hesitation, although at that time, she wasn't entirely sure about the full meaning behind Carla's request…

~AoGM~

Hidden in the shadows of the alley, a pair of emerald-green and ruby-red eyes watched the fragile-looking boy being shoved around by three others. Yet again, she was made witness to the cruelty of humans towards their own kind. Even though they lived like cattle, under many a sheep's skin, there lay a wolf in hiding – and they would form a pack to prey upon those who were weaker in body.

Yet, she could see that the boy they were abusing possessed something more rare and precious than physical strength: his strength was in his heart, which made him feel equally for each living being, and so he would rather endure being hurt than to be the cause of suffering for others.

"This world does not tolerate those who seek the truth," she made a quiet remark to her companion. "They call them 'heretics', and banish them from the society they believed was founded upon ideals, while those are nothing more than illusions. But today, everything is going to change."

"Well, in the end, it all comes down to whether they can make the right choice," her companion replied, his tone not betraying the slightest concern over the impending catastrophe the both of them could feel coming clear enough. He left her side, retreating deeper into the darkness.

"Are you intending to leave?" she questioned. "Don't you want to see it through with your own eyes, Reaper?"

He stopped his progress, but didn't turn back to face her.

"You know, I never really believed in fate the way you do," he admitted in a quiet voice. "But time has changed my mind, and now I see that my foolish choices had brought upon me the irony of fate I deserved… Have you ever seen what a circus looks like, Cassie?"

The question struck her as something unexpected and out of context, but she shook her head, not even being familiar with such a word. He gave a dry laugh, smoothing out his pure white mane with a clawed paw.

"I used to be just like these humans, scorning those who vowed to be the destroyers of humanity," he went on, his light tone never changing, only the look in his eyes remained dark. "I could never foresee that the day would come when I'd feel foolish for ridiculing their ambitions. But at the same time, I made my own vows, and accepted their taunts as a challenge. And now I can see that they're pretty serious about their purpose, and so I can't afford to treat my own words as mere jokes anymore, either."

"It's hard to believe that you, of all creatures, would choose to be an aid to humanity," she said, still incredulous.

"I guess it's rather fate than my own choice," he replied with a light shrug. "Now, if you'll excuse me, but my _programme du bal _for this particular day is full of a certain name I've yet to learn, and I'm afraid I'm already late from the fun."

He gave her a half-smile she could not sincerely return, before he leaped up, his lean figure disappearing over the rooftops. Then, she returned her eyes to see the three human children, those precious gemstones among all the dust and ordinary pebbles, and somehow she could feel deeply concerned for them.

Could it be that something had changed in her, too, just by spending a few days observing those creatures she had kept on avoiding all her life? Could it be that the fragile-looking boy had been right, and mutual acknowledgement would lead to a better understanding between their kinds, and even further?

Her emerald-green eyes went wide as she glimpsed a faint flicker in the darkness. Now, she saw it – the reason why the walls had to come down…

~AoGM~

"Why isn't there anyone who can understand me?" Eren fumed, kicking pebbles and garbage under his feet in the narrow alley. "Am I really that different? Am I really a…?"

He swallowed back the word, and shook his head fiercely. He refused to believe that the labels branding him had any truth in them. He stopped and collapsed against a wall, sulking and half-wishing Mikasa would come looking for him soon, like she always did, although he knew already that he would be shouting at her, too, for telling on him before their parents. He had hoped to enjoy the illusionary peace if his family for as long as he could, but thanks to his ambitions coming to light, it was all falling apart sooner than he wanted to.

But in the end, he couldn't really put all the blame on Mikasa – it was because of his own choice; he was the one who brought trouble into their small world.

"Can't I do anything but to worry them and make them sad?" he put the question to himself in a hoarse whisper. "Is the only thing I can achieve is to destroy?"

The dark, narrow alley in front of him didn't give him a reply – it just kept on staring back at him in ominous silence. Eren could see something glinting faintly in the depth of the darkness, and then he heard the sound of shuffling feet, and he noticed that a figure was standing in the shadows. It looked to him like a short, old man – only his white beard and a large, yellow nose were visible under his deep grey, hooded cloak. He was holding something in one hand: it looked like a coin fastened to a piece of string, swaying slowly from side to side.

Eren's eyes were drawn by the strange object, his attention distracted from the person, and so he couldn't get a better look at him. His eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, and he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Before he knew it, he was deep in sleep again…

~AoGM~

Carla was cleaning up around the house, trying to divert her mind from all the anxious thoughts concerning her only son, although there was little possibility of her succeeding. Not even her husband's reassuring words were sufficient to calm her down. Eren was a stubborn child, and in that, Carla matched him equally – there was no telling whose will was strongest.

A gentle tapping came on the window, and Carla went to open it up, seeing that the bird sitting outside and arranging his feathers was her own Darcy, a magnificent flying-type creature with grey plumage on his wings, darker on his chest, and mint green on his underbelly. His vivid red, ribbon-like wattle gave him a look to be rightfully proud of. Carla's lips curved into a smile as she watched the bird settling back onto the windowsill.

"Have you found your Lizzy yet?" she asked, like usual.

'_Thank you, Lady Carla, for your kind concern, but I must say I'm rather content with my life as a bachelor.'_

The bird gave an affectionate peck to her hand, earning a hearty laugh from Carla. Her voice was the only thing filling up their empty home. She was quite used to it by then: ever since she had left her job at the Post Office to settle down and start a family with her doctor husband, she had been happy to look after their home, to raise Eren, then Mikasa, even though she knew that due to Grisha's occupation, she would frequently be left on her own, to deal with the two children as best as she could.

However, it had become an increasingly difficult task lately. Carla could sense that they were changing: they were growing into self-conscious teenagers already, who wouldn't stand being coddled or treated like small children anymore. Especially Eren – Mikasa had always been more silent and conforming.

Even though deep down in her mother's heart she wished always to be by their side, protecting her children, Carla had learned to give them some space when she could see they needed to be alone to think for themselves, no matter how lonely she would feel as a result.

"When they hatch, they look so fragile and helpless on their own," she spoke in a quiet voice, stroking Darcy's soft feathers. "And when you see them trying their wings, you become afraid that they would get too bold, and end up falling. But even if they do fall, you see they wouldn't break so easily. They would try again and again, and before you know it, they're already soaring high and away. And that's when you realize that they don't need you anymore. They leave the nest to build their own, and you're left alone, each day anticipating their return, as if wishing for it only could fill the emptiness they leave behind…" Carla's smile turned sad, and she shook her head. "But that's the order of nature, right? Every living being, from the moment they're born until the day they breathe their last – everything has to change."

'_Sad as it is, I can only agree with you on that, Lady Carla.'_ Darcy bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Carla heaved a resigned sigh, then went back to her chores, humming a melody to an old song…

~AoGM~

_Your heart's beating around the clock  
Time ticking away, it doesn't stop…_

There is indeed a clock, placed high up on a tree, but there seems to be something out of place – or isn't there supposed to be two times twelve hours a day? The Roman numerals on the face of the clock confuse him a bit – perhaps it was him who got something wrong.

He glances around to see that he is standing in a garden of colourful flowers: red, orange, yellow, blue and white. He notices that he doesn't even reach above their stems. They bend their flower-heads low, as if looking at him with inquiry – then, he realizes that among the petals, they have white faces, with green-lidded, keen eyes.

He doesn't like being looked at. He doesn't like their voices. To his ears, they sound mocking; those many eyes make him feel as if he was some sort of spectacle to be considered peculiar.

"I am a boy!" he shouts at them in frustration. "A human!"

The flowers shrink away from him a bit, but only to exchange amused glances over his head. Their peals of laughter sound like many small bells, and he wants to cover up his ears against the noise.

"When I become an Explorer, I'll crush you all, you-"

But his threat remains unfinished as a large, furry head pokes in among the flowers, and he realizes with considerable alarm that it belongs to a puppy of enormous size. It has large, friendly green eyes, and a cute pink nose, but still, it is as huge as a Giant.

'Armin… What did you feed your dog to grow into such a monster?' he wonders, shaking in fear, until he notices the girl hanging onto the giant puppy's collar.

She gets down gracefully, sliding on flower leaves until her feet touch the ground. She greets him with a polite courtsey, making him feel confused and unsure about what to do, but once he catches a glimpse of the girl's violet eyes, he suddenly forgets about manners, and just stares at her.

She appears a couple of years younger than himself, wearing an indigo-blue dress with a neat white apron, and a large, matching ribbon in her bronze-brown hair.

"I've been waiting for you." Her voice sounds kind and friendly, but somehow… _unreal. _Her hands feel unpleasantly cold on his skin as she takes his hand and begins to lead him into the tall grass towering high over their heads, until they arrive out on a clearing.

In the fresh green grass, a couple of vivid red toadstools grow in a ring, their cap wide enough to serve as seat for them, too.

"I want to show you something," the girl says in a hushed, secretive voice, pointing out a small creature, which is in the process of crawling up onto one of the mushrooms.

It is a pale red caterpillar with sharp, yellow stingers growing out from its rear end and forehead. He is about to open his mouth to speak, but the girl hushes him, tugging at his hand and leading him closer to the creature.

The caterpillar has arrived on top of the toadstool, but now its body is covered with a silky white string. Only an intense red gaze is visible from the cocoon it has created around itself.

"It's changing," the girl speaks in an excited whisper, and he looks on with curious eyes as the cocoon begins to break open, and a colourful butterfly emerges from within.

"Everything changes in this world," the girl says close to his ear, and he is listening attentively as she explains, "In the early stage of its life, the only thing the caterpillar is concerned about is to fill its belly. It spends day after day just eating and eating, and once its hunger is sated, the caterpillar withdraws into a protective cocoon. But it cannot stay there forever. It needs to change – and changing is painful."

Her words fill him with a sense of unease. Somehow, it all sounds to him as if she is talking about something more than just the evolution of a bug-creature.

"Do you know what happens inside the cocoon?" she asks, a faint glint in the depth of her violet eyes. He shakes his head in response, turning back to watch the butterfly, but still listening to her. "The caterpillar begins to digest itself. It dissolves its tissues, then builds itself up again. Its whole body changes, like being reborn as an entirely different being. Sometimes, it happens that the caterpillar remembers its previous life. But that's still not the end. It can evolve further."

He watches in wide-eyed wonder as the form of the butterfly bursts into a rainbow-coloured light, but before he could get a good look, it soars up high towards the sky, disappearing into the azure.

"It's the same for 'us', and 'them'," the girl concludes, smoothing out her apron as she takes a seat on the toadstool, adding in a matter-of-fact tone, "If you cut the cocoon open at the wrong time, you disturb the metamorphosis, and the creature dies."

The unpleasant lump which has been growing in his throat is making it difficult for him to make a reply, so he just keeps on listening to the strange girl.

"But if the creature stays too long inside the cocoon, then it would die also." A faint smile is playing on her lips as she coils up the remaining silk thread, then looks him directly in the eye. "A hundred years confined inside the [cocoon] has already been far too long, don't you agree? It's time to break through the [hard shell] and let the [butterfly] free."

She slides down from the toadstool to stand in front of him once again, holding out her hand with the neat ball of silk thread. He doesn't know what to do with it, so he just takes it and tucks it away into his pocket.

"You know, they cannot come in unless they are invited." She smiles, before putting him a question out of the blue, "Do you know any rhymes?"

"I… don't know," he replies uncertainly. He isn't sure whether he could get the words correctly. Just before, he has got the impression that whatever the girl was trying to say was meant to be told in words different, only he couldn't grasp what they were supposed to be.

"I'll teach you one, then," the girl replies, her eyes animated with a strange glint. "Make sure you remember, so you could recite it when the time of change comes."

She clasps her hands behind her back and pulls herself up to her full height as she begins reciting the rhyme, which sounds vaguely familiar to him. The more he is listening to the words, the more he feels certain that the time of change is just around the corner.

And somehow he also knows that once it came, it would be terribly painful…

~AoGM~

Eren was startled awake by the sound of noisy voices coming from some distance down the alley. He didn't remember how he ended up falling asleep like that again, and this time, he couldn't recall even the faintest detail of his dream, if he had any.

He searched around for a while for Hans, until it occurred to him that the grey kitten had stayed back with Mikasa, and the thought only made him angrier, because neither of them came to look for him, after all.

He got up on his feet and began slowly walking towards the direction of the voices, his mind still a bit dazed from sleep, so it took him quite a while until he took in the scene, and realized what was going on. And then, his hands clenched into tight fists, and with a fierce roar, he broke into a run…

~AoGM~

"Come on! I told ya the battle's on, so bring it!"

Armin was shoved roughly against the wall, while his two companions stood trembling at his feet. A low growl came from the small puppy, and the little lamb's wool was sparking with static, but neither of them made a move.

"No," Armin replied in a low, but firm voice, once he managed to catch his breath.

"Huh? Whaddaya say?"

The older boy yanked at his shirt, and Armin winced, expecting to be hit again. He already had a couple of bruises on his face, but he would pull through this, like he always did. Somehow…

"You're no fun," another boy of the group sneered, his companion creature letting out a resounding _Belch_ and sending a putrid-smelling gas into the air.

Armin quickly covered his nose with a shirtsleeve, trying to shield Marit and Ewert. One of the puppy's legs was already injured when the bully's rat-creature used a hard _Crunch_ on it.

"Make your move, man!" another one urged, his alley-cat ready to pounce of them any minute with its vicious claws.

"No," Armin repeated, his usually calm sky-blue eyes reflecting hard determination, even though his whole body was trembling. "I won't stoop down to your level and involve them in such an unfair and meaningless fight. Never!"

"Ya little heretic shit!"

His passive resistance earned him another rough shove, and this time, his head hit hard against the brick. Armin could feel the sparks of electricity intensifying in the stench-filled air. Still, he was holding back.

"How're ya plannin' to survive outta here when ya don't even use no power of 'em, huh?" the bully resumed, shaking him by the collar of his shirt.

"I bet you and your cute little monsters won't get far before the Giants eat you up in whole," the other one remarked, and a harsh, vulgar laughter erupted among the three of them.

Armin was still shaking in his whole body – but not as much in fear as in helpless anger.

"The only reason you resort to violence is that you're too ignorant to think of any other way," he spoke, claiming his tormentors' attention. "Rather than making them into tools of war, humanity should endeavour to understand them better than we do now. That's the only way to increase our chances of survival in the Outside. If only all of humanity acknowledged these creatures as equals, then-"

"Cut ya heretic bullshit!" the older boy shouted into his face. "If ya refuse to command 'em pitiful monsters, then have the guts an' hit back while we beat the crap outta ya."

"No," Armin answered for the third time, unrelenting. He looked on calmly as the boys' features distorted into an ugly scowl.

"Ya asked for it, nitwit."

Armin was prepared for tearing claws and fangs, but not the resounding roar which came from some distance away, approaching rapidly. All heads turned to look at the boy who was running towards them at full speed. But the bullies' struck expression soon turned into a smirk.

"It's that nutcase Eren."

"Came for another beatin'?"

At that moment, Armin began fearing that the situation would only get worse – he didn't want his friend to get involved in a fight again for his sake. But then the third boy's face suddenly fell, his expression transforming into that of sheer terror as he pointed behind Eren's back.

"Crap, he has the psycho girl with him!"

"Damn, we're screwed!"

"Run!"

The three of them and their creatures had all fled by the time Eren arrived next to Armin, panting a bit and trying to catch his breath.

"See how I made them run like the wimpy dogs they are?" Eren said proudly. "No offense, Ewert."

Armin didn't want to tell him that it was rather the sight of Mikasa and her two kittens which scared the bullies away. Relieved, he tried to take a step forward, but his legs gave way, and he almost fell on his knees. Eren was by his side in an instant, offering a hand to help him. Armin looked at his friend's hand for a while, before shaking his head.

"I can stand up on my own." As much as he hated to appear so weak in front of his friends, Armin found it difficult to conceal from his voice the tears that began welling up in his eyes. He looked down at Marit and Ewert, and couldn't help wondering what they, too, might think of him. Did he disappoint them by not choosing to fight?

"You got picked on again?" Eren's voice raised him from his thoughts, and Armin watched as his friend stooped down to retrieve his book, now soaked in sewer water. "Because of what you believe in?"

Armin nodded, and he could see the understanding in the green eyes – but there was something else, too: that same helpless anger he was trying to suppress inside, only even fiercer.

"You shouldn't let anyone trample on your ideals. Just because others don't believe in them, that doesn't mean you're wrong," Eren said, and handed him the slightly dripping book, but Armin didn't take it from him.

"Can you hold onto it for a while?" he asked, his voice coming out shaky. "Ewert got injured because of me. I have to…"

"I brought some medicine with me," Mikasa spoke for the first time, and Eren appeared momentarily startled by her voice, as if he hadn't even realized her presence until then.

The three of them went to sit at their usual place on the riverside. Neither of them was really in the mood to join the centenary celebrations just yet.

"I was about to give them a piece of my mind," Armin explained, kneeling on the soft grass and holding onto the small puppy while Mikasa bandaged his injured leg. "Although I don't think they would've understood, anyway." He gave a gentle pat to Ewert's soft, furry head, a sad look in his eyes. "But I still believe that acknowledging the magical creatures as our equals would give humanity far greater strength than we gain by forcing them into slavery. I do think that they're no different than us."

"And what about the Giants?" Eren asked, tossing a rock angrily into the water. "Do you think they're the same, too?"

"I don't know," Armin replied. No-one knew the answer for that question. And no-one really cared, either. The Wall was a boundary: the Wilderness, 'their' realm; the Fortress, humanity's home.

"They're punishment," Eren said in a grim voice. "For humanity's sins against the creatures. That's why the Nameless Hero gave them-"

"Don't start with the fairy tales again," Mikasa interrupted, sending her brother a sharp glance.

"You're one to speak, Miss Telltale!" Eren snapped back at her indignantly.

"Oh, that's right, you told your parents," Armin remembered, "about joining the Explorers."

"I didn't," Eren said sulkily, glaring at Mikasa. "_She_ did."

"They would've found out eventually, with the way you always go and seek out that soldier," Mikasa said calmly, now beginning to gently rub some ointment on Armin's bruises. The blond boy noticed that Eren's cheeks went quite red at the remark, and even so as Mikasa continued, "You do know the meaning of those violet flowers that grow on the meadow, don't you."

"So, how did it go?" Armin quickly asked, sensing his friend's discomfort over Mikasa's teasing.

"Not too well," Eren admitted with a sigh. "Mom was ready to bite my head off. But Father promised to take me on as his apprentice, so I guess it could've been worse."

"Eren, that's great!" Armin exclaimed. "Studying by Dr Jäger's side is as good as being accepted into Trost Training School! You'll get to learn a lot, and…" His enthusiasm withered, seeing his friend's downcast expression.

"I know he only said that to pacify Mom and me, but they're both aware I'd still rather be a soldier than a doctor," Eren said, looking at his sister playing with the kittens. "It's Mikasa who's good at medicine and treating wounds, not me. It should really be her…"

Armin could understand why his friend would feel disappointed, since the two of them used to share the same dream: to gain acceptance into Trost Training School with their chosen partners, and learn everything that was known about the creatures living alongside humanity; about the world outside; about the Giants and how to defeat them – to graduate as certified monster tamers, and then join one of the military branches.

But unfortunately, no matter how bright the boy was, Armin's parents couldn't afford the high tuition fee, and due to a certain incident which happened a couple of years ago, Eren and Mikasa were disqualified, even before they could send in their applications. Still, neither of them had really given up on their own dreams.

"It's still a chance," Armin said, trying to keep the envy from his voice. "You should be happy about it."

"And what about you, Armin?" Eren said quietly, watching the autumn leaves drift past on the water surface. "You still aim to become a Ranger, don't you?"

"Yes," Armin replied with a faint smile. He knew about his friend's low opinion on the Rangers stationed in their town, but Armin still admired them for their work of ensuring that humanity and the magical creatures could live side-by-side undisturbed. They were in charge of protecting the natural reserves, as well as raising and training many creatures to aid the work of the Explorers.

"And you still keep that picture of Miss Rose or whatshername on you, don't you?" Eren grinned. Now it was Armin's turn to go as red in the face as a Tamato Berry.

"N-No," he denied furiously.

"He does," Mikasa proclaimed, producing a faded magazine clipping from Armin's bag.

"D-Don't go poking around in my stuff!" Armin squealed in his high-pitched voice, attempting to snatch the piece of paper away, but by then, Mikasa had already passed it on to Eren, who spread it out on the stone pavement before himself.

"Here she is, 'A new blossom ready to bloom'," Eren read the caption, which was written in flourishing letters. There was a young woman on the picture, with long platinum blonde hair, wearing a fancy pale pink dress, all frills and ribbons, and holding a creature with a red and blue rose in her hands.

Eren's brows knitted into a frown – something about the flowers… the dress… Armin's puppy… He couldn't quite grasp that sudden, strange sense of foreboding, as if he was supposed to remember something, but he couldn't.

"Why don't we go for a ride on the Marill-Go-Round?" Armin suggested, wanting to escape the playful teasing of his two friends, but apparently, Eren wasn't listening.

The heavy volume of old stories was lying propped open on his lap as he attempted to dry it, and Eren began flipping through the pages until he found a picture of a young girl and a cat-creature, then he turned a couple of pages ahead to look at the picture of an odd, egg-shaped creature, who seemed to be sitting on top of a wall.

"Hey, Armin," Eren spoke, poring over the printed lines. "I think I know this rhyme, only the words are different here."

"Really?" Armin went to sit next to him, reading the page. "It's a very old nursery rhyme, my grandfather used to-"

"…_lossus went to the Wall,"_ Eren began in a barely audible murmur, his eyes smooth as glass, but not reflecting anything at all. _"His Iron Tail caused it to fall; All the King's horses, and all the King's men, Cannot protect the Fortress again…"_

"Eren," Mikasa called to him sharply, sensing how both Hans and Greta were beginning to act strange, covering their ears with both hands. Ewert let out a low growl from Armin's arms, and Marit's wool began sparkling with electricity.

The music and the voices from the fair sounded far-way, as if an oppressing aura had settled upon the town. For a moment, everything went still, like the calm just before a storm, even though there was not a single cloud on the sky – but still, it became darker.

Then, a tremendous thunderclap broke through the momentary silence, throwing them up from the ground. The music stopped abruptly, and the merry voices on the town square became bewildered shouts.

"What was that?"

"Something fell from the sky?"

The three of them jumped up and rushed to join the gathering crowd, all faces turned to the same direction, a look of horror and disbelief on their features.

Ewert's fur bristled, and he let out an angry bark. Mikasa was hugging both Hans and Greta close, covering the two trembling kittens in her cardigan. When Eren turned his head to see what everyone was looking at, his eyes went wide.

Just above the fifty-metre high wall, a large grey-green head emerged, belonging to a terrible creature no-one had ever seen before. Its red eyes were looking down into the town, its huge jaws opening to let out an earth-shattering roar.

Eren could feel the ground beneath his feet tremble. A sudden, strong wind whipped up, carrying grains of sand which kept on getting into his eyes, so that it became difficult to keep them open.

"It's happening," Eren said, with a strange mixture of awe and terror. "The punishment…"

Then, there came a loud crash, and the wind intensified. People finally began scattering in alarm as rubble came flying from the direction of the Wall. Something big and heavy landed right in the middle of the square, shattering the fountain. Thanks to Armin pulling him quickly aside, Eren escaped being flattened by a large boulder. Many people stood rooted to the spot, pointing towards the wall with a hollow expression.

"It-It broke through the Wall…" Armin gasped, collapsing down on his knees beside Marit.

Through squinted eyes, Eren saw that in place of the Southern Gate, now there was a gaping hole. Beyond the cloud of thickening dust, he could make out the large shapes of strange creatures approaching from the outside. The sound of screaming rose in his ears, and he was shaken from his stupor when a strong hand latched onto his wrist.

"Eren. We have to get out of here!" Mikasa urged him.

But Eren shook her off, his eyes seeking out their home. Then, he began walking towards that direction, against the panicking crowd. Mikasa followed him immediately, leaving Armin trembling, paralyzed with fear and that all too familiar feeling of helplessness.

The town bells were sounded – this time, it wasn't for celebration, or to alert of fire. Reality was gradually seeping into his consciousness, filling him with the weight of a terror yet unexperienced: for the first time in a hundred years, humanity was under attack by the Giant Monsters – and he knew they weren't ready to retaliate. He hadn't been ready to fight earlier, either, and now that it had become a matter of life and death, it made him feel ashamed. Was he really a coward? Was there really nothing he could do? Was it really over?

Ewert gave a gentle lick to his face, gathering up his tears of frustration. Armin looked back into the dark eyes of the small puppy in his arms, becoming aware that humanity's failure to defend the Fortress would mean the end for many of the creatures, too. He couldn't let that happen.

But with the Explorers gone, who would fight for their sake, both humans and the creatures who lived inside the Fortress?

"The Rangers…"

Determination flashed up once again in his eyes as he managed to push aside his fears, and soon he found his legs could move again, carrying him forward with a sense of purpose…

~AoGM~

Hannes was about to pour himself some more wine when a tremor came, rattling the windows in their old frames and making him drop the glass. Its contents pooled out onto the floor, seeping into the crumbling stone pavement and leaving a deep-red mark.

"Darn, what _is_ going on?" He went to the window to take a look outside. Umimaru climbed up onto his shoulder to have a better view. "Did they set off the fireworks by accident, or-"

What he saw made him choke on his words: there were giant figures approaching the town from the direction of the Wall. When he threw the window open, the panicked shouts of people hit him like a hard slap in the face.

"Giants are getting inside the town. This must be a bad dream…" The Ranger stood dazed in the window, refusing to believe his eyes.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that they looked so terrifying up close. It was one thing to observe them from atop the Wall, making light of their mere existence, knowing that the Fortress walls were high and impenetrable; but to see them walking right into their city, looming over their houses, to _know_ that their only purpose was to feast upon them and their beloved ones – that put things in a whole different perspective.

In the blink of an eye, the peaceful and comfortable world he used to know changed unexpectedly, and it made him feel more scared than he had ever been in his life. For the first time, he could feel the true weight of responsibility settling down upon his shoulders, and it was crushing him.

Hannes moved from the window to grab his uniform cloak, hastily draping it around his shoulders while Umimaru went to collect his boots and brought them to the Ranger, who pulled them on, and a moment later, he was running up the stairs to ring the alarm bell.

When he came down again to assemble with the other soldiers, he saw his own confusion reflected on their faces: no-one was prepared for a situation like that. So far, they had been leading an easy life, forgetting even about the basic training they had received in Trost.

"It's too late to admit it now, but the kid was right. We're all useless freeloaders," Hannes grumbled through gritted teeth, trying frantically to sort out his equipment. It had been ages since he had last wielded a sword-creature – they never needed them for the wall maintenance, so they were tucked away into a corner, dust and cobweb settling on their capsules and burying them into oblivion. "We're not at all prepared to defend this town, we don't know how to fight the Giants or even to use these creatures! At this rate-"

His desperate flow of words was interrupted when a door suddenly opened. A frail-looking blond boy was standing in the doorway, panting, grains of sand gathered in the folds of his clothing. He was holding a puppy and he had a lamb at his feet. Hannes recognized him as the shepherd's grandson, Armin Arlert.

"The Giants have invaded this town!" he cried, loud enough for everyone to hear over the ruckus in the room. "You must evacuate all the citizens and the creatures! Se-Send a message and call back the Explorers, they'd-"

Hannes pulled out a rickety chair and let the boy sit down. He could see that he was trembling in his whole body, but his clear blue eyes were animated by a spark of purpose and determination.

"There're still ferries and boats in the docks, right? The waterways should be safe, but you need to hurry," Armin continued, gasping for air. He brought up a hand, clutching a crumpled piece of paper, and laid it out before Hannes on the table. "You pledged upon your hearts to protect the lives of humans and creatures inside the Fortress, right? Prove that you're worthy of calling yourselves 'Rangers', and save them!"

Hannes glanced down at the picture on the paper, his features hardening as he recognized the person it depicted, and he understood the request immediately. Deep down, he was feeling ashamed that he had to be reminded of his oath and purpose by a mere child, but considering the unprecedented gravity of their present situation, he was rather glad for that reminder.

"You all heard what to do, right?" he addressed his fellow Rangers. "Begin the evacuation immediately! Someone send a message to the Supreme Commander!"

"Even if we manage to save the citizens, what are we supposed to do until the Explorers show up and slay those damn Monsters?" one of the soldiers questioned.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Hannes answered, grabbing a sword-creature. Umimaru followed his example, removing the sharp-edged shell from his belly. "We have no other choice but to fight."

~AoGM~

Carla was outside collecting the freshly washed clothes when a strong gust of wind came, and something cast a dark shadow over the yard.

'_Lady Carla!' _Darcy flapped his wings in warning, realizing earlier than Carla did that it was a huge piece of rock. He grabbed her clothes with his sharp talons and pulled her away, just before the rock crashed into the house, splintering it to pieces.

A heavy wooden pillar from the porch broke and fell, landing on one of Carla's feet. She gave a shriek, but not as much in pain as in alarm: she could feel that something was terribly wrong. And the fact that her children were somewhere out there and not by her side made it a hundred times worse.

Carla got herself up from the ground, dragging her injured foot as she went over to the fence and leaned over it, her eyes searching the streets until she noticed Eren and Mikasa running towards her.

"Mom!" Eren cried, just as relieved as his mother was feeling, seeing the both of them unharmed.

But soon, Carla's eyes were drawn by the towering shapes gathering inside the town, their presence filling the air with the sickening stench of mouldering earth and gases of decay.

"The Giants got inside…" she said in a low voice, despair and anger overcoming her. "It's all because of them! Why did they have to go outside and turn the wrath of the Giants upon all humanity? Why on us, too?"

"Mom!" Eren was tugging at her arm. "We have to hurry up and escape before they reach here!"

Carla winced as she tried to put her weight on her injured foot, and realized immediately that it was impossible. She grabbed Eren firmly by the shoulders, her brown gaze hard and serious.

"Eren. You have to take Mikasa and run. Now."

"What?" Eren gaped at her, confused.

"A pillar crushed my ankle, I'm barely able to stand, let alone walk or run," Carla told him in a rush, her tone sounding painfully lifeless. "You understand what it means, right?"

"But… Darcy can still help…!" Eren gestured to the flying-type hovering close above their heads.

"He's a messenger bird, not strong enough to carry a person."

"Why do you keep such a stupid, useless bird, then?" Eren burst out, flinging a pebble at the creature in frustration.

"Either way, I'd only be a hindrance," Carla said with an air of finality, but the boy would still argue.

"I don't care, I'd carry you on my back if I had to, but I won't leave you here!" Eren shouted back at her.

"Listen to me for this once!" Carla raised her voice in a desperate shout, too. "Did you forget that you're _my_ son? We're connected with the same blood, I understand you better than anyone in this world – your hopes, your fears, your dreams. All this time, the only thing I wanted was to protect you from the fate humanity brought upon those who are of a different kind. I do wish for you to see the Outside one day, and feel free to walk this world, but not as it is now. Not with the Explorers, who understand nothing better… I know I won't be there forever to stand as an obstacle between you and your aim, but if you choose to follow their orders, at least listen to my last request!"

"Mom…" Eren's eyes were filling with tears of sadness and frustration. Mikasa was crying, too, knowing from Carla's look that she would turn to her with a request she would find it difficult in her heart to carry out.

"Mikasa!" Carla's voice was imploring. "Do you remember what I told you earlier?"

"Yes, Mom. I'll never forget it," Mikasa replied, fighting back a sob, but grabbing Eren firmly.

"I won't listen to such stupid words and leave you behind!" Eren persisted, refusing to let go of his mother's arm. "I promised Father, didn't I? That I'd…"

His words were lost in a choked sob, and Carla took her son into her arms – she couldn't deny him that one small act of affection, even though she had to be harsh with him if she ever hoped to triumph over Eren's stubbornness.

"You can't see it now," Carla said softly, beginning to gently push away Eren, who was still trying to cling onto her. "But in time-"

The sound of running footsteps came from the street leading to their destroyed home – it was Hannes and his partner Umimaru. From the opposite direction, a Giant was coming closer and closer.

"Carla! Take the kids and run to the docks!" he shouted. "I'll take care of the Monster!"

"No, Hannes! You can't fight them! You must bring my children into safety!" Carla told him, and the way she winced when she tried to move made Hannes realize that she had somehow got injured. "I can't run from here, but I can still fight."

The Ranger didn't know what to make of her words. But then, as he looked up at the Giant, approaching with great, leaping strides and compared its enormous size to that of his own, small creature, he quickly saw how unequally balanced they were in terms of strength, and so he changed his mind about engaging it in a fight.

Hannes called back Umimaru into his capsule, then grabbed both children, heaving up a protesting Eren onto his shoulder, and picking up a resigned Mikasa under one arm, before he began running as fast as his legs would carry him.

"Thank you," Carla said gratefully to the soldier's retreating back, tears of relief and sadness rolling from her eyes. She heaved a broken sigh, knowing that once she made up her mind, there was no turning back.

Eren was shouting and trashing, beating his fists against the Ranger's back while all he could do was to watch helplessly as his mother's figure became even smaller and smaller. Through his burning tears, he could see Darcy take flight towards the sky, and Carla had one hand over her mouth, the other held out before herself. There was something round sitting on her palm.

Was she really intending to fight? Did she even stand a chance, with whatever unknown creature she had by her side? Eren wanted to believe – he wanted nothing more than to be safely reunited with his mother again, after all the nightmare was over. More than joining the Explorers, more than wanting to see the Outside, that moment, he found himself wishing that he could just have his home, his family back. Then, he would never dream of leaving that small world again.

'_The caterpillar withdraws into a protective cocoon, but it cannot stay there forever,'_ a voice came in his head as a reminder. _'It needs to change – and changing is painful.'_

His heart was aching and pounding hard, his voice faded as his throat became tight, and he lost his strength to struggle. He watched in silent agony as his mother's figure disappeared into a sudden burst of dust-dimmed light. Then, the only thing he could make out was a gigantic dark blue shape looming over the ruins of their home. A pair of golden eyes looked directly into his own astonished ones.

'_Now, you can see.'_ The familiarity of the voice squeezed his heart, burning his eyes with tears. _'And in time, you shall understand.'_

"What…?" Eren choked out, before he could hear the other voice coming in reply.

'_It's time to break through the illusion and let the dragon free...'_

* * *

**Next Chapter**

For the common people, that day was merely noted as the hundred year anniversary of the standing of the Fortress, humanity's last shelter. But to the nobility closest to the crown and confided in their deep secrets, that day also marked the beginning of a new era - a Queen's ascend to the throne...

**That Day, Serving As Grim Reminder**

**Humanity vs. Giant Monster**


	7. That Day

**That Day, Serving As Grim Reminder**

**Humanity vs. Giant Monsters**

_Year 845_

The church bells were sounded in celebration of the impenetrable Fortress, the walls that allowed the human race to prosper for a hundred years. Banners were floating in the gentle breeze, with the colours and emblems of the Guardian Spirits decorating each three of the mighty walls…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Uxie': Utopia – Royal Palace_

The Royal Palace stood high up on a crag, looming above the city of Utopia with its many tall towers, making it reminiscent of a dark creature with sharp horns. From the steep slopes, water cascaded down in an abundant flow, filling trenches and gathering in canals which coursed through the city below, the waterways stretching out like a great, liquid spider-web.

Inside the Palace, there were many lofty, echoing halls with walls and floors of polished minerals, their surface creating bizarre reflections and an illusion of endless space. Gigantic carved columns reached up to support high domes accentuated by sparkling gemstones in imitation of the night sky.

Even after four years of serving inside those impressive walls, he was still feeling as if in a dream, walking down the maze-like corridors, passing by the glass pillars which enclosed water and contained magnificent fish with a single horn on their heads, the elegant movement of their fins floating around in the water befitting a queen.

However, to that day, no queen had ever reigned in the Palace. The Regent had been keeping the throne for six years now, waiting for his eldest child to come of age and claim it for herself…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Azelf': Shiganshina_

A lone red balloon was drifting languidly towards the overcast sky, past the church tower and reaching as high up as the fifty-metre tall wall. It went on floating over the edge, but before it could fly beyond to the outside, it popped abruptly.

However, no-one took notice of its brief adventure, or the tragic end it met before truly reaching freedom: all eyes were fixed upon the rising cloud of dust beyond the wall; upon the large horned head of a monster from ancient stories and nightmares. Could such a creature even be real?

As the air filled with a mighty roar; as the ground began moving under their feet; as the wind blew sand into their eyes; as the world around them began shattering under the rocks that came falling from the sky like a meteor shower, humanity was finally shaken awake from a hundred year's sleep…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Uxie': Utopia – Royal Palace_

"I wonder what your impression is of our Crown Princess." The young soldier with the dark hair turned from a full-length mirror to face his companion creature, an azure-blue beast with an armoured body and a single horn on his forehead. "If you ask my opinion, I believe she is still far too young to shoulder the burden of ruling even such an isolated and confined land as the one within the Fortress."

He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes behind them dark and discerning. "Even though she would be the one wearing the crown on her head, it is very likely for her father the Regent and the influential politicians to hold the actual power to govern the land. Truth be told, I don't really expect much of a change."

Neither his tone, nor his expression betrayed any hint of disappointment. Rather, there was a touch of anticipation to his every movement as he walked across the room and sat down on a cushioned chair, pulling on a pair of polished black boots.

"But as long as the current state of peace and prosperity continues, we are fine with that sort of arrangement. Don't you agree with me, Licorne?"

His companion growled in agreement, letting the young soldier fix the band with the royal crest around the creature's upper arm.

"After all, we pledged it upon our hearts to be loyal to the crown. Finally, the day has come to act upon that vow, and offer our services to a real monarch."

Returning his human partner's gaze, Licorne could detect in his eyes a rare spark which bespoke of his true feelings more eloquently than any words could describe. The creature recognized it as the excitement of his dreams coming true, his efforts coming into fruition. In that young human's eyes, there was no greater honour, no greater pleasure, than serving a Queen.

The soldier returned to his open cupboard to pull on the last piece of his dress uniform: the long royal blue coat, with its back ornamented with the dark silhouette of a unicorn-creature framed in gold, matching the buttons on the front and the sleeves. Straightening out his uniform, he found himself wondering whether he was truly worthy of donning such fine garments. But then he pushed all thoughts of doubt away from his mind as he reached to remove a medal pinned to the lapel of his regular uniform jacket of the Royal Guard.

The Acuity Ribbon: the symbol of the sharpness of wit, a proof of his exceptional skills – a reminder of all his years in training and apprenticeship, all the hard work he had to go through, all the tasking obstacles he had to overcome in order to obtain such an award. It wasn't without a sense of pride swelling in his chest that he attached the ornament to the breast of his coat, above his heart.

He gathered up his regular uniform, attempting to put it away, when something dropped onto the polished stone floor, making a small clicking sound as it opened up. Kneeling down to pick up the oval locket, his fingers lightly touched the crystal embedded into it. As if conjured up by magic, the small image of a young woman flickered up from the crystal, standing atop it and slowly twirling around like a wind-up ballerina, her trailing gown and bright long hair floating gracefully around her petite frame.

A sigh stuck deep in his chest as he lifted the locket onto his palm, covering up the shimmering image of the pretty girl before tucking the small object into an inner pocket.

Licorne could see guilt and embarrassment burning his human partner's cheeks, the look of longing already washed away from his eyes. The young soldier would put every effort into shaking those emotions off, before those could consume him. The inner conflicts caused by human desires was too complicated for the creature to fully understand, so Licorne would observe those moments silently, wishing for the resolution best suitable for the purposes of his human partner.

The soldier of the Royal Guard reached for his sword, a living creature with crimson blade sheathed in an ornate scabbard, and equipped it onto his left side. Not a moment later, he exited his chamber with great, confident strides, Licorne falling in by his side without waiting for instructions. The two of them had been partners long enough for the creature never to need to question his human companion's commands, even if those were given in silence.

Even though many of the creatures tended to become whimsical when reaching their final, most powerful stage of evolution, acting defiant and refusing to obey their master's orders, ever since Licorne had received the Moon Stone and attained the full strength of his species, he had shown nothing but the deepest trust and absolute obeisance towards his human partner. It was another rare trait to possess, even among the most gifted soldiers of the Police Brigade.

The two of them walked down the maze of corridors until they arrived at an inner court. A man with dark grey hair and several medals on his uniform indicating his high rank was already standing there, observing the gardens through a thin pair of glasses. By his side stood, still as a rock, an enormous creature with light grey body and yellow armour, the horn on its forehead resembling a drill.

The soldier halted his steps some distance away from the man and his companion, clicking his heels together and bringing his right fist over his heart in salute. "Nile Dawk and Nidoking Licorne reporting for duty, sir."

The tranquil grey eyes turned from the inner yard, and his superior acknowledged his presence with a light hum. "Excellent," the older man murmured under his moustache.

Nile glanced around, expecting to see other members of the Royal Guard, but it appeared to him that the only ones present were the Supreme Commander and himself. It made him a bit curious, and rather ill at ease, but he fought back his growing nervousness. There was no occasion for him to feel that way on such an important day.

"Don't be so stiff," his superior told him, evidently sensitive enough to pick up on his unease, no matter how hard he was trying to conceal it. "All arrangements had been completed for the coronation ceremony, all preparations carried out with utmost care. So far, you have done your job well. All the rest depends on 'them'."

"Thank you, sir," Nile replied, feeling a bit giddy for the unexpected praise.

"Here they come," the Supreme Commander spoke again, returning his gaze to the garden.

Nile backed against the wall, Licorne following his example, giving room to the approaching procession, the core of which consisted of the Regent and his wife, followed by the Crown Princess and four younger children, their figures but a mere blur behind a protective veil of water. No-one was supposed to see their faces. Not even the members of the Royal Guard, those who were directly in their service.

Nile remained standing stiffly against the wall, frozen into a salute, but his dark gaze followed them as they passed by like shadows under the surface of deep water. He began to count the royal children once again, bothered by a faint sense that he had missed one earlier, but the number was still the same, so it must have been a fault in his memory, believing that there was supposed to be one more.

From the veil of water surrounding and concealing their figures, a bubble of rather impressive size disattached itself, soon followed by another, slightly smaller one. Both were floating languidly towards him. In the sheen of their surface, Nile thought he could glimpse images of a girl with silky black hair and gentle bright eyes, the look in them always wide open; thin lips pulled into a smile, parting in a playful, teasing laughter which echoed somewhere far down in the deep well of his memories.

The bubbles suddenly popped, just a few centimetres from his face, lightly sprinkling his face and his glasses with water. Nile believed his ears could pick up the sound of giggling, but he quickly conceded that it all had been only a product of his imagination.

"Seems like Marina is in a mischievous mood today," the Supreme Commander remarked, once the Royal Family entered the coronation chamber, followed by their entourage of nobles and their personal guards. The tension freezing him in place slowly melted, so Nile dared to take off his glasses, cleaning it of the water dotting them, while blinking at his superior, who, noticing his confused looks, proceeded to add, "She is the companion creature of Her Highness. The one with the mermaid-tail. I'm sure you must have seen her before. The Crown Princess never goes anywhere without her pet."

Nile replaced the glasses onto his nose, trying to remember ever encountering such a creature, but the image he managed to conjure up in his mind was rippling like disturbed water, impossible to grasp without flowing through his fingers.

"Don't think too hard about all that," the Supreme Commander said, giving a strong pat to his shoulder which almost sent Nile staggering forward, but he managed to plant his feet firmly just in time to prevent such disgraceful an event. "The Royal Family goes to extreme lengths in order to conceal their identity, even from the eyes of their most loyal servants. However, the time shall come when all the eyewash would become unnecessary, and finally everyone could see things for what they truly are. Perhaps not today, but not too far in time."

With leisurely steps, the Supreme Commander began walking towards the coronation chamber, gesturing for Nile to follow him. Overcoming his momentary confusion, the soldier stepped inside the room, pulling the double door closed and stationing himself on one side with Licorne, the other occupied by his superior and his drill-horned creature.

The room was less spacious than Nile had expected from a coronation chamber, but it was none the less splendid than the other rooms of the Palace. It was of a hexagonal shape, three walls out of six made of impenetrable glass with bubbling water behind them, imitating underwater scenery with floating seaweed, clusters of coral and fleets of luminous fish.

The furnishing of the room was reminiscent of a church, with a thick-carpeted isle dividing rows of soft-cushioned benches already occupied by the most prominent members of the noble families – the closest confidantes of the Royal Family. They, too, preferred to be secretive about their identity: along with their ornate robes, they were also wearing masks, concealing their faces with that of water-creatures. Many of those imitations appeared intimidating enough to keep anyone from staring too long and making guesses about the one they were meant to hide.

Nile only dared to give the assembled guests a sweeping glance, their numbers hardly reaching a dozen, before his gaze wandered further to the back of the chamber, where the altar stood covered with a fine embroidered cloth displaying the royal crest. And right in the middle, placed atop a cushion of royal blue, there was the crown, gracefully tall and sharp, ornamented with a single gemstone, its colour alternating between misty blue and hazy purple.

But before the ceremony could even begin, there came a loud rapping noise from the other side of the door, disturbing the serene atmosphere of the chamber. On instinct, Nile reached for the hilt of his sword, the deep red cloth beginning to wrap around his right arm, tapping into the power of his own spirit.

The Supreme Commander moved to pull the door open just enough to see another soldier from the Royal Guard, with a messenger bird perched on his arm. He left the room without a word, but returned shortly, walking up to where the Regent was standing behind a screen put up next to the altar, crossing his arms in displeasure for the unexpected disturbance. The Supreme Commander was standing close to the screen, talking in a hushed voice while handing over a piece of paper to the much shorter man. As the Regent unfolded it, Nile could see that it must have been a letter, but he couldn't pick up a word from the conversation which followed.

However, Licorne could hear every word clearly, his large ears always alert to the slightest of sounds.

"…send out all the Explorers," he heard the Regent's voice, trembling with fear, but it was with merciless determination that he gave his orders. "Once they are past Wall Mesprit, order all gates to be closed. None of them may return from the battlefield until those Monsters are driven out of the Fortress, or else they shall be promptly executed. Make that clear to their Commander."

"Understood, sir," the Supreme Commander replied, hesitant to put his question, "What about the civilians in the Valor District? Shouldn't they be first-"

The Regent cut him off with a dismissive motion of his hand. "Just leave it to the Explorers to stop the invasion before they reach any further than the Shiganshina Prefecture," he said, his voice thick with annoyance as he turned away from the Supreme Commander, "At the moment, we have more important things to attend to than to worry about the lives of a few peasants and ruffians."

Licorne let out a low growl, baring his fangs. Nile, startled by his partner's sudden change of mood, ordered him to behave. The creature shrank back against the wall, hiding the bout of fury he himself never knew was capable of experiencing.

'_This is the man we have been serving so far,'_ Licorne thought to himself, a venomous bitterness burning him from the inside, _'a man who would sacrifice his soldiers, his own people, for no apparent purpose than to feed the Monsters, while he remains remote and safe.'_

He threw a sideways glance at Nile – if he had only known about the true face of the Royal Family he was serving, would he still be so adamant in his desires to serve them?

As for himself, Licorne could feel doubt beginning to eat away at his resolve. More than anything else, he feared opposing his human partner – his Master – for fear of severing the bond which had been forged between the two of them over long years of living, learning and evolving together. That bond had made the both of them stronger, but rather than losing that strength gained due to their partnership, what he was really afraid of was losing Nile as a friend. In order for that to never happen, there couldn't be any discord between them.

But Licorne knew that Nile's loyalty wasn't exclusively reserved for the crown: the soldier held his friends in just as high – if not even higher – a regard as any members of the royalty; only he was rather reluctant to admit it even to himself, not realizing yet how noble it was for one to follow his heart, to acknowledge without the sense of shame where it belonged, to overlook the rigid boundaries of social standing.

Licorne recalled the shimmering image of the young woman projected by the rare memory crystal, and reminded himself that the Nile he had come to know wasn't the kind of person who would let his friends face perils without attempting to help them. His belief that his partner would choose the right path, once the time came to decide where to put his trust and loyalty, was beginning to solidify, calming his sudden burst of rage. There wasn't much he could do to warn Nile – all he could do, for the time being, was to observe from the sidelines, waiting for the events to unfold, for an opportunity to arise…

The Supreme Commander walked out of the door again, his face set into a grim expression. Nile couldn't imagine the meaning behind that fleeting, stormy look he had caught from his superior before the man passed by and out of the room, but he could sense that it was bad news. Perhaps some disturbance in the Underground again, society's outcasts demanding entrance to the surface due to the celebrations.

The centenary – an unprecedented event in humanity's history since living in the Fortress – was supposed to be a celebration the whole population was meant to participate in. Even so, and quite ironically, some exceptions had to be made in order to ensure public safety. Such dangerous elements as the ones living in the Underground shouldn't under any circumstances be allowed to come swarming to the surface, not even for a single day.

Not on such an important day as the coronation of the Queen.

The Supreme Commander finally returned after an absence significantly longer than his previous one.

"Your orders have been delivered, Lord Regent," he announced in a hushed, but clear voice. "The ceremony might proceed without further disruption."

Wasting no time, the Regent raised both arms, gesturing towards his eldest daughter, who rose from her seat in the front row, and approached her father, who had already removed the crown from the cushion, holding it in both hands. He was facing the masked nobles sitting scattered on the benches, addressing them, "Our esteemed countrymen. Bear witness to a new monarch's ascendance to the throne."

The silence enveloping the chamber might have been serene, befitting the occasion, but Nile sensed that there was something else to that quiet – something bubbling under the surface, while all eyes were taking in the Crown Princess, bending her knees and lowering her head, so that his father wouldn't have to reach so high in order to place the crown upon her head.

Then, the Regent turned back towards the people assembled, "Let me present you the Queen of the Fortress."

A round of applause rose like small claps of thunder over the waves if murmured congratulation. To Licorne's ears, the sound was too artificial: the hands clapped together lacked in strength, the words said did not sound true. He watched in silence as the members of the nobility rose from their seats, stepping out onto the isle and forming a line, each in turn kneeling before the Queen, offering her their well-rehearsed pledges of allegiance.

Once the nobility withdrew to stand in the shadow of the walls, the Supreme Commander stepped forward, sending Nile a sideways glance to signal that it was their turn to pay their respect to the Queen. Nile stepped away from the doorframe, suddenly feeling weakness overcoming his limbs as he followed behind the man's broad back, but he forced himself to carry forward with sure steps, straightening his back and assuming the proper posture a Royal Guard was expected to carry himself with.

Reaching the altar and the Queen, they sank to one knee with heads bowed low and a fist over the heart.

"May your reign be as prosperous as your ancestors', Your Majesty," the Supreme Commander spoke, before offering his vows.

"I, Nile Dawk of the Royal Guard, am offering my beating heart and life-long loyalty to the Queen," Nile repeated after him, "from this day on to the rest of her glorious reign."

For a fraction of a second, Nile dared to lift his eyes to look at the young Queen. The veil cascading over her face was like a glimmering waterfall, a pair of bright orbs, like gemstones, peering from under the surface. For that brief moment, Nile thought he could see a smile gracing the young Queen's lips…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Azelf': Shiganshina_

Armin watched as the Rangers equipped themselves with their swords, a small sense of relief filling him, until he remembered the last time he saw his friends: Eren was heading straight back towards their house at the outskirts of town, which had become one of the most dangerous areas due to the invasion.

"Mr Hannes!" He grabbed the soldier by an arm as they were running out to the streets. "Mikasa and Eren… They're still…"

"Don't worry about them, Armin," Hannes told him, steering the blond boy towards the opposite direction. "Go with the other Rangers and get on a ship. I'll make sure those kids are all right."

"Thank you."

"Also, take these. It'd make things easier to know those guys in safety as well." Hannes handed him two creature capsules before they parted, the soldier running off towards the direction of the Wall.

"You know how to use those, right?" another soldier asked. "You'd better call them in. There's a limit to the number of passengers the ferry can admit on board."

Armin nodded his head, understanding immediately that it was best for his companions to be sealed away – rescuing the human population still took priority over rescuing the creatures. He pushed the button on the capsule and pointed it to the lamb first, before sealing his puppy into the other one, then tucking both capsules safely away in his pocket.

Armin followed the soldier and his azure mouse-like creature to the docks, where he soon spotted his grandfather, recognizing him for the hat he was wearing on his grey head. The wrinkles on his face looked deeper with worry, but once reunited, his expression became somewhat relaxed.

Along with other townsfolk, they were ushered on board of a ferry already crowded with people. There wasn't much space to move around as the ship was gradually filling up to its full capacity, but Amin couldn't sit still on his seat. He kept glancing back to see whether he could spot his friends among the sea of people jostling and hurrying to get on board. It was the blond head of Hannes that he noticed first, wearing a grim expression as he pushed Eren and Mikasa firmly before himself.

Armin brought up a hand to wave to them, but his arm fell limply back to his side when he realized that both of their faces looked drawn, their expression hollow.

"Maybe it's not the best time to talk to them," his grandfather spoke in a solemn voice. "Those poor children, who knows what they had lost…"

Armin turned his face back to his grandfather, and noticed the tears at the corner of his eyes. His hands clenched into fists around the broken shepherd's crook resting on his knees. And then, he understood that deep look of concern in his grandfather's eyes: he had to leave the herd behind. Perhaps Marit was the only creature saved. Perhaps even Ewert's parents…

And then, an even more painful realization struck him: he couldn't see Mrs Jäger anywhere near his friends, even though the woman would never leave her children to face such dangers alone. Not if she could do anything about it…

Armin sank back onto his seat as the ferry slowly began moving to transport them behind Wall Mesprit. Hushed, despairing voices came from the passengers, each lamenting their own loss, expressing their fear of the insecurity their future held.

Eren and Mikasa were huddled on the floorboards opposite to him, neither of them speaking. Mikasa was hugging a bundle close to her chest, which Armin could only guess were Hans and Greta, wrapped up in the girl's cardigan. A trail of tears streaked both of Eren's cheeks, dripping down from his chin to form a small pool in one, shaky palm, glimmering like a round crystal, until he crushed it in his hand.

Eren sprang up abruptly and pushed his way through the miserably huddling passengers. Armin got up from his seat, too, noticing the strange look in his eyes, but Eren pushed him aside and went to stand at the side of the ship, his hands gripping the railing tight.

"I'll kill 'them' all!" The fierceness of his voice made Armin back away and stare at him in alarm. "I'll crush each one of 'them' like bugs! Even if I can't become a soldier, at least I can still be a warrior and fight until there's not a single one of 'them' left in this world!"

"Eren…"

Mikasa joined them, and the three children gazed back in silence, watching as the sand danced over their lost hometown…

_That day, we could feel it in our hearts:_

_the paralyzing terror of living alongside such cruel neighbours;_

_the helpless anger of being mere ragdolls compared to 'their' might;_

_the bitter regret of ever challenging fate, when humanity was never meant to leave these confines;_

_the deep sorrow of losing home and family from one moment to the other;_

_the unspoken despair that life, as we knew it, would change forever…_

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Mesprit': Trost_

A sweet scent filled the air of the town. In each window, on each square, pots of colourful flowers had been placed out, so that the whole town looked like a blooming meadow. Since early in the morning, soldiers had been helping the townsfolk with the preparations, putting up stalls and decorations. As morning was drawing into noon the streets became even busier as more and more people and their creatures were coming out of their houses to join the celebrations.

"Of all days in the calendar, it just had to be today for me to draw the short straw, having to go up there," a soldier with short-cropped black hair complained as he climbed down a ladder, having finished putting up the banners which fluttered lightly in the breeze. Like many people of that town, he was donning the red uniform of the Rangers, bearing the crest with the red and blue rose-heads on its back. "The Commander ordered us to keep a close watch-out. Since the gates are open for a full day, all sorts of folk and their creatures are free to come in."

"Those living in the outer district are not much different from us, you know," his fellow soldier told him as the two of them began walking back to the main square.

"Right. Duty is duty," the Ranger said, patting the shaggy white head of his dog-creature. "Still, you should come up, too, and keep us company."

"I'm sorry, Mitabi, but I have to decline," the other Ranger said, his gaze wandering over to a young woman sitting in front of the church, weaving flower crowns for the children. "I think I'm just fine where I am."

"Ooh, I see," the soldier called Mitabi replied, following his friend's gaze with a knowing smirk. "If there's one thing I'm not planning to miss out today, it's to challenge her, once we get back to HQ. Today, I'm going to outdrink her for sure!"

"Then I hope you forgive me if I place my bets against you," the other soldier smiled apologetically. "No challenger has ever managed to defeat the Elite Soldier of the Rangers, be it in whatever kind of duel."

"That's true," Mitabi replied, scratching the stubble on his chin. "I do wonder how she manages to pour down drink after drink, without ever becoming intoxicated. Does it have to do with what they say about her? That she herself is 'toxic'?

The other soldier only laughed at his assumption. There had been numerous rumours going around about the best soldier of their division – and more often than not, those weren't to speak in her favour. However, the soldier knew the young woman enough not to really believe half of what was being said.

"There's only one way to find out," the Ranger said.

"Someone's in for a butt-kick," Mitabi sneered.

"Perhaps not today," his friend replied with an optimistic smile…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Mesprit': Trost – Underground Passage_

"I'm sorry, Alfons. As a friend, I hold you in high regard, but I doubt there could ever be anything beyond that between us," the flower declared, sounding as if she were reciting well-rehearsed lines – which they actually were, considering how popular she was, and the fact that she wanted none of that sort of attention.

The two of them were standing in what they called the 'Windy Tunnels', an underground shortcut which connected many of the major towns in the Verity District, and was usually off limits to anyone, when not under maintenance by the local Rangers. There was a reason why Rosalind decided to sneak down there on that particular day, and she found it an unfortunate coincidence that Alfons insisted on accompanying her, and chose that particular moment to confess his ardent affections for her.

"But Rosie…"

"Don't call me _that_."

"Sorry."

The creature in the spiny armour hunched his shoulders in defeat. He had been holding out a Chesto Berry between his three brown claws, but hearing the rejection, he wasn't quite sure anymore whether the flower would still accept that small gift from him.

"There's no chance I would ever change my mind, so you'd better give up now. Any further attempt would only be a waste of your time. There are plenty of flowers blooming on the meadows, as the saying goes, so just go and pick another."

Rosalind turned her back on the grass/fighting dual type, so that she wouldn't have to see the miserable look on his face. In fact, she was feeling just as awful herself: she didn't find the least pleasure in breaking hearts like that, and so she thought it a merciful act on her part to be blunt and cut every expectation short. How could she even consider giving them false hope, toying with their hearts when she knew she had nothing left to offer in exchange? She had long buried her own, and was no longer able to feel attracted to anyone who chanced to approach her. Nevertheless, she was quite content with her life as it was, and had no intention of even pretending to fall in love, no matter how many suitors she would have to reject.

"I understand your feelings, Rosalind," Alfons said in his deep voice. "It must be hard to forget-"

"Oh, please, _don't_," the flower snapped, out of patience. She would have preferred the curtains to fall on such an unpleasant piece of drama. She needed no sympathy, she needed no reminders – she just wanted some space, to be left alone, but seeing that it was quite impossible, she decided to walk back to the nearest opening of the tunnel.

However, just as she took the first step, she was blown back again by a sudden rush of wind, but Alfons was there to catch her, gently pushing her back against the wall and bringing up his arms to merge them into a protective shield. Both of them knew what was coming: a train of horsemen riding on their iron-clad beasts, travelling through with _Extreme Speed_ – that was how the tunnel got its name, for the _Tailwind_ which accompanied them.

Rosalind tried to dig her small feet deep into the earth between the cracked paving stones and held onto one of the much larger creature's legs to avoid being blown away. She really didn't expect _them_ to appear now, of all times. She caught a glimpse of the Chesto Berry rolling away, then being trampled under iron hoofs. She was silently thankful for Alfons wrapping a pair of vines around her, firm enough so that she could feel safe – her own were too feeble to be of any use.

With the horsemen passing by, a wave of sadness washed over her – not that she had any reason for wanting to belong to them anymore: she only wished they could take away all those memories from her, so that all past thoughts and feelings would mingle into that blur of grey and green, and be forgotten just as swiftly as the wind came and was gone in an instant.

Once the clamour turned into silence again and the air returned to be motionless, Alfons let down his _Spiky Shield_ and released his grasp on Rosalind, looking down at her with anxious dark brown eyes to make sure no harm befell the delicate flower.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

But Rosalind was already walking a good distance away to pick up the Chesto Berry, finding it miraculously unharmed. She wasn't hurt, either. That wind, though, managed to stir her up to an unexpected degree. She was staring long into the dim tunnel which kept on stretching far ahead of her into darkness.

"That's the way towards the North," she said, realization slowly seeping into her mind.

"Indeed. This route leads directly to the Hermiha Gate."

"Alfons," she called to the armoured creature in a softened voice, "Would you mind going up ahead? I'll join you in a minute."

"Of course," Alfons replied with a gentle smile, before walking away.

Rosalind waited until the echoes of his heavy footfalls died down, then she went to a narrow recess in the tunnel wall, cradling the Chesto Berry in her arms. There was a large golden ring painted on the old bricks, worn from time, but still unfading.

"It's been four years," she said in a low, solemn voice. "And I'm still waiting to wake up from this dream."

She crouched down to remove the crumbling stones from the base of the wall, revealing the soft, fertile earth underneath. She went on digging a hole, deep enough to plant the surviving Chesto Berry, then covered it up gently.

"I hope you've found rest," she continued in a whisper, standing up again and leaning her forehead against the cold, hard stone. For a moment, she allowed herself to believe the sensory illusion of it being the opposite: warm and comforting. "I'm fine, I just… miss you so much."

The small mound at her feet drank in her tears – in a couple of days, a fresh, young plant would sprout from that spot, growing stronger with each day and bringing its flowers into full bloom, before yielding its crop. She wanted to believe that she was like the Chesto Berry: tough and unbreakable, thriving even without seeing the full face of the sun.

But each year, on that same day, she would allow herself to be weak, to break for a brief moment and let her true heart come to the surface. And then she would shed her tears freely and remember, and be happy and sad at the same time, and would forever regret that on that day, four years ago, she failed to become an aid to the Explorers, a useful ally to her human partner.

Of all the failures she was feeling remorseful about, the one which now came back to haunt her, like an undying ghost, was the fact that she had never revealed her true heart to the only one she would ever love.

"I should have followed you, no matter what you told me…"

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Uxie': Hermiha_

"Am I forever destined to be a wallflower?" Nanaba sighed, watching the dancers with envy.

'_If you don't even notice when you're getting noticed, then I wouldn't be too surprised,'_ her companion remarked, folding her muscular arms.

"Who _is_ that girl, Hokori?" Nanaba craned her neck to have a better view over the many heads.

'_She's wearing striped stockings, too,'_ the creature reported, although her partner couldn't understand her speech, but she knew Nanaba would make her own observations soon enough.

"Can you believe it? She has striped stockings on!" the Explorer exclaimed in utter shock, now crouching low to peer among the twice as many legs. "You know, wearing such extravagant garments has never been an indicator of good taste with me, but if that's my only chance of ever capturing-"

"Did you drop something, Nana?"

She sprang up the instant she heard the other soldier's voice behind her back, sounding amused enough to make her feel ashamed.

"No, Mike, I was just doing some exercise before, um…" Her pale blue orbs searched around until her gaze fell on the stands with the games of skill. "…before going over to play Whack-A-Mole. Right, Hokori?"

'_Yeah, it wasn't like we were spying on guys and nit-picking at their dance partners,'_ Hokori added to Sandy's benefit, making the brown hyena-pup break out in giggles. Both of them knew that Nanaba was terrible at lying.

"Hm, strange. I thought we sniffed out a wallflower," the soldier said, smiling under his thin moustache.

Nanaba turned away, a bright flush on her cheeks. She hated to be so obvious.

"I happened to be looking for a partner-"

"No," the young woman promptly rejected. "Graduation ball was enough to never make me wish to dance with _you_ again."

"Ouch. You pack your punches way too hard, you know?" Mike said with a laugh. "How about beating some moles instead?"

It was with some difficulty that Nanaba could finally turn her back on the dancers, and follow the tall soldier.

Meanwhile, their Commander was enjoying a mug of frothy beer and the company of some old friends in the shade of a tent when a bird landed close by, ruffling its deep pink feathers with an air of importance, before proceeding to open its yellow beak, talking in a voice familiar.

"Private message to Commander Keith Shadis, from Darius Zackley, Head of the Royal Guard, forwarding the express orders of our Regent," the bird said.

Mug in hand, Shadis left the noisy company in the tent in order to listen to the message. The urgency and unexpected nature of such communication was quite a damper on his previous – and otherwise extremely rare – moments of good mood.

"Let's hear what the old fellow has to say." He waved to the bird to start relaying the message while he took a last swing from his beer, finding the taste even bitterer than before.

"Wall Azelf has been breached at the Southern Gate," Darius Zackley's voice stated matter-of-factly.

Shadis spurted beer over the front of his uniform. Even he didn't expect that one coming.

"A request of reinforcement has arrived from the local forces currently engaging in battle against the invaders," the Supreme Commander went on. "All soldiers of the Explorer division are to be deployed in Shiganshina immediately."

Wiping his mouth on a sleeve, Shadis exchanged a glance with his companion creature, a small quadruped with a shield-like face.

"The day has come when humanity relies on your exceptional skills more than ever before. The Regent places his deepest trust in the Explorers to defend Humanity's Fortress. May glory be on your side, my friend."

The message ended, the unspoken implications hanging heavily in the air, waiting to crash down with full force.

"If this is a test of how useful we Explorers are for humanity, then we'd better not screw this up."

Rummaging through his equipment for a flare gun, Shadis loaded it with a black smoke cartridge. Then, he fired…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Mesprit': Trost_

"Seems like we're ready with the preparations." A tall soldier was approaching with his young deer-creature skipping along by his side. He was wearing a cheerful smile, which made her realize that she must have looked rather downcast in comparison. Her friend did not miss to take notice of that as he asked, "Is something the matter, Rico?"

She quickly shook her head, sending her long blonde locks flying about in the gentle breeze.

"Nothing, Ian," she replied, putting on a wide smile. "I just remembered that a friend's birthday is coming up this autumn, and I'm still not sure about what present I should get them."

"I see..." Ian said, contemplating whether he could give any good advice on that problem, but then he could feel his companion giving his leg an encouraging nudge, so that he took another step forward. "Well, I know your birthday was in spring, but Serena thinks this ribbon would suit you well."

He pulled out a long, creamy pink ribbon from a small paper bag and held it out to Rico.

"Why, thank you," she said, her smile turning genuine. "And I think Serena has very good taste."

With a smug smile on her face, the deer raised her nose contentedly when Rico gently ruffled the yellow flower on her head. She exchanged a knowing glance with Rosalind, who appeared just as pleased. It was one thing that the flower wished not to engage in any sort of love affair, but watching a budding romance between her partner and such a delightful suitor did give her enough pleasure to make up for all that.

"Would you tie it in my hair for me?" Rico requested from the tall soldier.

Ian came and sat down beside her on the bench. "I'm not sure I can manage this properly, but I'll give my best try."

"Don't you have a sister, Ian? Or a female cousin?" Rico inquired, helping him gather up the silky blonde strands. "A sweetheart, perhaps?"

'_Smooth as silk and sweet as honey,'_ Rosalind remarked in appreciation, glancing up at the man expectantly.

"No, I don't have any of those. Still, I can't say I suffer from a lack of lady company." The young deer received a warm, affectionate look from him.

"Hmm… Are you talking about Serena and Diana, or is there someone else?" Rico asked, turning her head slightly. "Someone you haven't introduced to me yet? A female friend?"

"Actually, there _is_ someone, although I don't believe she needs any introduction," the soldier laughed a bit nervously.

"Oh, then it must be a person I know!" she exclaimed, excited to make a guess. "Let me see… Could it be Anka?"

"Rico." Ian's voice turned serious. "There's something I'd-"

'_Finally!'_ Rosalind cried, clapping the two rose-buds on her hands together and sending red and blue petals flying about like confetti. But her enthusiasm withered the moment she glimpsed the strange look on the man's face.

While holding up Rico's hair to tie it with the ribbon, Ian couldn't help noticing the implant at the nape of her neck, and even though he was fully aware that it was bad manners to be staring so openly, he found he couldn't avert his eyes from the curious device. It made him wonder how much of those rumours might be true…

"A low ponytail is fine," Rico said, her voice sounding gentle, but drained of her earlier playful cheeriness. Ian complied with her request, his hands moving automatically. He had completely forgotten about his earlier thoughts and intentions, and so left the two flowery creatures thoroughly disappointed.

In the end, Serena and Rosalind accompanied their human partners as they went on to join the crowd gathering for the fair, listening to them talking about things of absolutely no relevance to their anticipations. After a while, they gave up and decided to try and enjoy the festivities nevertheless.

They watched with considerable disapproval as Rico went on beating soldiers almost twice her size in various games of skill and strength, wondering when she would finally give up on such unladylike habits. They got themselves all sticky with candy floss, so they had to go to the fountain to clean up. Rico was laughing almost like a child, and seemed to be just as childishly unaware of the look of admiration in her friend's eyes.

Then, something unexpected happened. On the distant sky, a thin column of black smoke began to rise. Rico was looking towards that direction while she wiped her hands on her red cloak.

"What's that?" A merchant selling balloons at a stall was pointing up at the unusual spectacle.

"It's right over Hermiha," Rico observed.

"Maybe something went wrong with their fireworks?" Ian guessed, following her gaze.

But Rico was still familiar with the colour code of the smoke signals used by the Explorers to communicate. Something was wrong. She could feel the wind rising, carrying dust and flower petals.

"The Wall. Let's go up there and have a look!" She pointed towards the top of Wall Mesprit, then broke into a run.

Ian was barely able to catch up with her. By the time he arrived at the foot of the wall, Rico had already boarded a lift, waiting impatiently. Once they were hauled up onto the top, she rushed over to the spot directly above the gate, where Mitabi was standing watch with his partner.

"You did change your mind, after all," he said, turning to Ian with an inquisitive look, but the Ranger's eyes were already fixed on the distant south. Something was not right about the look of the sky.

Soon, the troops of the Explorers clattered past through the gate in a great hurry, their _Tailwind_ stirring up the air and letting loose a number of purple balloons, which began soaring upwards and over the wall. Rico stood with her legs firmly planted against being blown over the edge, the wind whizzing past her ears whispering, urging. Once she understood what it was telling her, her heart skipped a beat, before beginning to pound heavily against her chest.

No time to think. Act.

Glancing at the purple balloons gliding past her and beyond the wall, she took a few steps back, before making a headlong charge forward.

"Rico, are you out of your mind?" Ian exclaimed. He realized her intentions a moment too late to be able to do anything to stop her.

Rico had already leapt off the wall, grabbing hold of some balloons by the strings and holding on tight. Before the two Rangers could recover from the shock of witnessing such a reckless act, her small figure was already blown far away towards the south.

"What…?" Ian gasped, feeling just as helpless and dismayed as Rosalind did, watching her partner go without a word. "How am I supposed to explain this to the Commander?" But rather than that, he was at the moment more worried about his fellow soldier's safety.

"I doubt it needs much explanation," a voice unexpectedly spoke up behind them, making the two soldier jump. Both Ian and Mitabi turned to see the approaching older man, who had a balding head and a thick moustache. He had also brought a large bottle with him, which was now placed at his feet, a golden carp-creature floating smugly in it.

"Commander Pixis." The Rangers offered their superior a rather shaky salute.

"The situation is clear as daylight." Rummaging in his breast pocket, Pixis pulled out a flat, ornamented flask, and took a long swing from it, before squinting his eyes towards the distance, the brewing storm. "Seems to me that her heart is still with the Explorers," he remarked in a low murmur.

Rosalind was painfully aware of what the old man was implying – it had long been a thorn in her own heart. She wanted nothing more for Rico but to forget them as well.

To never encounter that man again…

~AoGM~

_Fortress Wall 'Uxie': Utopia – Royal Palace_

Pointless as it was to try walking on the surface of water without leaving a trail of ripples behind, she was aware that no matter how lightly she was treading, it would take a miracle to catch her young and handsome guardsman unawares. Not when his sharp-eared partner was standing at attention by his side, picking up on the slightest noise her bare feet were making against the stone steps spiralling up to a high tower of the Palace. Even before she set a cautious foot on the landing close to the top floor, keeping her breath shallow so as not to betray her presence, she could already hear the creature's warning growl.

"Well, so much for surprises," she sighed, releasing the breath she had been withholding so far. With a mischievous flick of her fin, her pet creature slipped past her, and she followed, abandoning care about the echoing noises her bare feet were making as she padded up the remaining steps and emerged at the top of the tower.

The circular chamber was filled with the dusky light of late afternoon: the air looked thicker as the setting sun illuminated each floating speck of dust, creating the illusion of murky water.

As expected, the soldier was already turned towards the stairs in anticipation of company, but before his expression settled into that of a stone statue, she was satisfied to catch the faintest hint of surprise on his face.

"Your Majesty." The soldier offered her a stiff salute, while his blue companion creature eased himself into a non-threatening stance, although she was already well aware that there was no reason to be afraid of him, the most disciplined creature in the entire Royal Guard.

Her attention was focused on the soldier, his dark gaze steady and attentive. Still, a look of confusion was disturbing the depths of those eyes, and she folded her arms in a mock gesture of displeasure.

"Don't you remember my name, soldier?" The annoyance in her tone was feigned: inwardly, she was smiling wide at the subtle change in his expression, the way he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"I am terribly sorry, Your Majesty, but I don't believe we have ever been introduced on such familiar terms."

A wide beam was beginning to surface on her face, threatening to ruin her act: without doubt, the game she enjoyed playing the most was 'meeting for the first time' – to see the variety of his reactions over and over again, and to be amused at his embarrassment once she revealed her true identity.

Naturally, after their encounter during the coronation ceremony, the soldier would recognize her as his Queen – but he would not remember ever knowing her before unless she allowed him to.

Using her gift, she reached out for his mind with her own, searching for a small brook of memories blocked up with stones, removing the obstacles as effortlessly as if they were mere pebbles and letting the memories flow free, like water slowly trickling back into its trail.

"Do you know my name?" she asked again, watching as the dark eyes gradually filled up with recognition.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The soldier's chest heaved for a moment, but the breath was stuck inside – a controlled attempt at suppressing an exasperated sigh. "Your name is Frieda."

The young Queen curved her lips into a mischievous smile, content that her gift didn't fail her. In fact, with such steady practice each passing day, she was getting better at handling that power.

"You should've seen your face when you swore eternal loyalty to me, Nile," she blurted out between giggles, sauntering closer to him, but the soldier didn't return her smile. No matter how hard she had been trying to provoke any sort of response apart from his flustered, dutiful behaviour and always polite words, it was a challenge she had yet to meet. Knowing Nile as she did, she already noticed that he never allowed himself even as much as to laugh in embarrassment, in spite of her constant teasing.

"Now that I'm Queen, nobody can order me not to dance at my own coronation ball, and I expected you to-"

One more step closer, and she could feel it: the small, disturbed waves coming off of him. Another step, and it became a strong pulse she could clearly pick up and understand: concern – deep and dark and filled with desperation. Like a great underwater chasm.

"What… What is it?" She backed away, a sudden sense of wrongness washing away her previous good humour.

"Nothing, Your Majesty," Nile replied in a low, but firm voice, which only confirmed to her that there was indeed something wrong. "If you allow me to advise you, I would recommend you returning to the ballroom now. Licorne would escort you back."

"And you?"

"I shall join you in a minute."

Frieda glanced up at the soldier, her gaze scrutinizing his unreadable features. He was standing with his back to a window, his tall figure blocking the view to the outside. She tilted her head to the side, catching a glimpse of a black tail shaped like a metronome arm. She recognized it as one belonging to a messenger bird, which was sitting behind him on the ledge.

"Bad news?" Her eyes went wide with sympathy, but the soldier only shook his head, suppressing another tell-tale sigh. He seemed conflicted about something, and Frieda decided she would not leave him alone until she learned about the source of his concern.

"Let me hear the message." She took a deliberate step forward, but Nile was quick to block her way to the bird. She folded her arms in response, straightening her back in order to gain a more regal posture. The soldier's gaze was silently pleading, but she ignored it as she spoke, this time in a clearly commanding tone, "As your Queen, I order you to make that bird talk to me this instant."

This time, her words had a more spectacular effect on the soldier, although it came without the sense of pride she had once anticipated: his mask shattered, Nile looked as one struck in the face, but not a moment later, something flared up in his dark eyes –a look she had never seen from him before, but she could sense that the waves he was sending out became heated.

However, that sensation only lasted for the briefest heartbeat, before his expression settled back again into his well-practiced calmness. The soldier turned to exchange a long glance with his companion. The creature gave a low growl in response to whatever question was silently communicated between them, before Nile stepped aside, allowing her access to the bird perched in the window.

"Repeat message." There was a cold edge to his tone, and he was deliberately facing away while the bird ruffled its colourful feathers. When it opened its pink beak and spoke, it was in the unfamiliar voice of a young woman, her tone wavering between confidence and uncertainty, sounding as if she weren't quite sure whether she should send those words at all.

"Private message to Nile Dawk of the Royal Guard," the voice said, "from Rico Brzenska."

The name alone sounded strange enough to belong to a girl, but the word 'private' made her understand that she had made a terrible mistake.

Frieda could feel the colour rising in her cheeks, and she brought a trailing sleeve before her lips to muffle a gasp, before waving frantically at the bird. "Oh, that's quite all right. You may stop now."

Suddenly, she was feeling stupid and embarrassed for prying into something which clearly wasn't her business, no matter what title she was bearing.

"No, go on," Nile instructed the rather confused bird, then turned to her with those same, cold eyes. "You were the one who wanted to hear it so badly, after all."

Frieda swallowed, but the overwhelming sense of mortification didn't disappear. It was true, she had asked for it, and she had even used her authority as a means to force her will upon the soldier, but she had already regretted it deeply. It hadn't been more than a couple of hours since she bore the yet unfamiliar weight of the crown on her head, and she was already awful at playing her role as Queen. The realization made her so ashamed she wished she could just sink back underwater, deep into the mud and hide her burning face – that image she was intent on clearing out from the soldier's memory forever.

"You already know me to be blunt, so I'm just going to tell you what the situation is-" Frieda clapped her hands around the bird's beak, not wanting to hear any more of what was not meant for her ears.

"Rico Brzenska of the Rangers at Trost Station," Nile supplied her with the unasked-for information, leaning back against the wall next to the window. His tone still sounded unusually chilly. "You might not remember, Your Majesty, but she is the one who received the Verity Ribbon a couple of years back."

Frieda thought about it for a moment, briefly glancing at the medal ornamenting the soldier's lapel. Of course, she remembered that there was two more of that kind, each in different divisions. The Verity Ribbon made its bearer the Elite Soldier of the Rangers – a soldier awarded for their exceptional skills. Frieda might have heard her name before, perhaps even seen her likeness somewhere, but ironically enough, now it was her who couldn't call up a clear image to match the two. She was certain Nile had never mentioned her by name, but it occurred to her that he might have spoken of her before.

Slowly, it was all beginning to drift together and make sense to her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know…" All she could offer was such a feeble apology, before the urge to escape the scene overcame her. She wished she could just flush the last couple of minutes down the drains, to never remember such embarrassment again. "You were right, I should probably go back…"

She was just about to make a most unroyal dash for the stairs when the soldier's hand flew out to grab her arm, holding her back firmly. It hurt, but she was hardly aware of the pain. It was washed over by something far worse. Something bubbling up inside her chest, a sensation almost suffocating.

"Please, listen to the message." Nile eased his grip on her, but not enough to let her escape.

The bubbling feeling suddenly became a torrent of emotions. She didn't want to listen to that voice. She didn't want to know what she wanted to tell. Curiosity had hurt her too many times to realize how blissful ignorance could be. The weight of knowledge was always heavy, crushing – like the pressure deep underwater.

As with so many other disturbing facts, she could just pretend as if this woman – what was her name again? – never actually existed in that world; as if she weren't the one always lurking at the back of his mind. Her gift even granted the kind of power to make Nile forget about her for good, and then…

"Queen Frieda." The words so foreign to her ears in that combination and spoke with so much earnestness stabbed right through her like a spear. The pair of hands falling on her shoulders reminded her of her responsibilities with the suddenness and force of a cataract crashing down upon her.

The soldier turned her around, returning both hands to rest on her shoulders, caging her and keeping her in place. From the corner of her eye, Frieda could see that his companion creature had moved to the top of the stairs, his massive figure blocking the way down from the tower. Marina was sitting at her feet, waiting for a command, but Frieda knew that against Nile's creature, the two of them were in a great disadvantage.

She had no other choice but to give in, so she raised her face once again to look Nile in the eye, dark and unreadable.

"Ever since I enlisted to Trost, I have been waiting for this very day, to receive the honour of serving a Queen." His gaze upon her was searching, as if he were deliberating whether she was really a Queen, or only a silly girl who knew nothing – and honestly, at that moment, Frieda felt more like the latter. Never before did she imagine that a day would come when she would be the one standing embarrassed in front of that man.

"If my memories do not fail me, I came to know you as a person fit to be a ruler, deserving the respect of her people, as well as the trust with which your soldiers place their lives into your hands, believing you to care for them enough not to waste their sacrifice, but use it for a rightful purpose." His gaze darkened, a shadow of a doubt flitting across the surface, but the next moment, those eyes reflected nothing but earnest determination. "I have made my vows believing in your kindness which now I remember you possessing for certain, and with all my heart, I want to keep on believing that my choice has been the right one. I want to believe in you, Queen Frieda."

The confession made her throat tight as she realized how far she was from being the kind of person Nile wished her to be. But at the same time, the honesty behind his words made her want to fit into that role, even if it were to crush and suffocate her.

"How can I become a Queen worthy of your vow?" Her voice came out choked as she struggled to keep down tears of frustration and self-loathing.

"For a start, would you lend an ear to Rico Brzenska's message, and then consider my proposal afterwards?" Nile asked her once again, the coldness long gone from his voice. She could see his shoulders shaking slightly; she could feel the tremors travelling through his arms to his hands still clasping her shoulders – not with the purpose of restraining anymore, but she realized he was holding onto her as if she were an anchor.

But soon the soldier withdrew from her to turn his distant gaze towards the sun setting over the horizon. When he spoke again, the emotions were no longer concealed from is voice.

"Those might have been the last words I would ever hear from her…"

* * *

**Next Chapter**

It is an irony of fate that those who were fortunate enough to be born into a position of power often find their status more binding than liberating: assuming a predetermined role and conforming to a rigid set of rules, there is not much freedom in the world of royalty and nobility.

The story of the young heiress about to be crowned and the young aristocrat who vowed to serve the crown – the boy who fears water and the girl who was born underwater. When duty demands the opposite of what the heart dictates, is it wisest to act according to your role, or is it foolish to pretend you have another choice?

**Star-Crossed And Fate-Bound**

**The Royal Heiress &amp; The Loyal Knight**


	8. Star-Bound I

Notes: Until the main story continues, please enjoy some back story! ;)

* * *

**Star-Crossed And Fate-Bound I.**

**The Royal Heiress &amp; The Loyal Knight**

_845: Utopia – Royal Palace_

Her bare feet were gliding on cold, smooth ice covering the length of the spiral staircase and transforming it into a slide. She no longer cared who heard her approach, for now she was the sea-storm personified: her long hair swirling around her like ominous dark clouds, fury making her throat rumble like the thunder of the skies and the turmoil of the waters, eyes flashing with lightning and the promise of judgement.

The words of the message were still ringing in her ears, an unfading alarm.

"_You already know me to be blunt, so I'm just going to tell you what the situation is…"_

How could she be so silly as to believe she had been about to listen in on a confession of tender emotions, when she should have at least expected communication between soldiers to involve matters of far greater importance than the private world of two people.

She berated herself for the naivety and childishness of her behaviour not a moment ago.

"_Azelf's Southern Gate is destroyed, and the Giants are coming in for a feast…"_

The Ranger's words had had the sobering effect of a dose of icy water slapped onto her face. But instead of cooling her with numbing dread, the news she had no previous knowledge of, the orders she neither remembered issuing, nor ever been consulted about, made indignation flare up inside her, stoking her newly acquired sense of responsibility as the Queen of the Fortress.

"_Shutting down Mesprit's gates, leaving the civilians of Valor prey to the monsters while letting the Explorers fight the invaders alone till the bitter end… Just what's that supposed to mean?"_

That was exactly what she intended to find out. Feeling a surge of confidence in herself, she needed no further guidance from the man who had always stood before her, tall and firm as a lighthouse amidst a raging storm.

Even on her own, Frieda knew exactly what she had to do…

~AoGM~

_SIX YEARS PREVIOUS TO THE ATTACK ON WALL AZELF_

_839: Utopia – Royal Palace_

It was dark. She was surrounded on all sides, without any space to stretch her limbs, so she remained curled up, the bushy end of her tail tickling her nose. Something was tied around her neck, but she couldn't even lift a paw to try loosening it. Even though she couldn't move, there was motion all around her, and the sound of muffled voices.

Then, finally light came: first just a narrow crack, then gradually widening until she could poke out one curious ear, then another. Impatient to be free from those narrow confines, she leapt out of what turned out to be a gift box, and landed on the lap of a young girl with long silky dark brown hair and bright eyes. Her sudden appearance was welcomed by delightful exclamations and looks of adoration – only the girl's face reflected nothing at all, as if being frozen into perpetual inexpression.

Glancing around her unfamiliar surroundings, she took in a cosy parlour belonging to a human family: father, mother and five children. The softly carpeted floor was littered with colourful wrappings and silk ribbons. Boxes of chocolate were piled up on one another, dolls were occupying armchairs. On one end of the sofa, fashionably trimmed dresses were laid out in heaps. Still, none of them seemed to delight the girl, who was sitting stiffly in an armchair, propped against the pillows like an invalid.

"A wind-up toy?" She tilted her head slightly as if her curiosity had been piqued by this new gift, but then she was already about to place her among the collection of toys. Startled by the touch of her cold hands, she suddenly jumped and gave her cheek an affectionate lick. The girl grimaced, holding her small body as far away as she could. "It's alive!"

"But of course, my dear," the man with the moustache told his daughter with an amused chuckle. "Since you turned twelve this year, we thought it appropriate that you finally got a pet creature of your own.

"Well, thank you, Father," the girl responded in a hollow, unimpressed voice, letting her youngest sister pry the small creature from her hands. The child was pulling her by the ears, and it hurt, but she kept as still as if she were a stuffed toy, ignoring the pain.

"I want my own pet, too," another small girl spoke. She was sulking on the rug, poking at the discarded wrappers. "It's not fair that it's only Frieda who gets to have everything!"

"Don't be jealous of your sister, Mabel," her father scolded.

"Florina wants an itsy-cutesey pet, too," the youngest girl whined, yanking on the creature's pointed ear even wilder. However, the father remained unrelenting, insisting that the two of them were still too young to own such pets.

Meanwhile, the girl called Frieda was sitting calmly in her armchair, looking on with the empty eyes of a decadent doll.

"There is one more present left!" the mother announced, cutting the children's squabbles short. Shuffling over to a cupboard, she pulled out a small box from a drawer, and came back to present it to Frieda. "Your Uncle Uli meant this to be yours. A last gift, bless his departed soul."

At the mention of their deceased kin, a veil of solemnness settled upon the room, but the young creature noticed how the father's face tensed in guilt, and the girl's expression contorted, as if in agony.

"A gift… from Uncle?" Frieda's chest began to heave as she kept on staring at the box still held out to her. Then, her voice came in a shriek, "I DON'T WANT IT!"

With a sudden lash of her hand, she knocked the box out from her mother's hand, scattering its contents. With her big brown eyes, the creature saw the three round, opalescent jewels rolling away in different directions.

The girl was working herself into a fit, thrashing wildly and screaming shrilly. Right before her eyes, the room which had previously appeared to her so homelike, was turning into a scene of chaos, and she thought it better to flee under the sofa, lying low and folding her ears.

Soon, the door burst open, and a pair of nurses rushed in, trying to make the girl calm down enough so that they could remove her from the room. The mother had already ushered her four other children out of the door, all of them looking shocked, scared. Disgusted.

"Call for Doctor Jäger!" the father ordered, apprehension reflected in his own eyes…

~AoGM~

During the forthcoming months, the Doctor had been a frequent visitor to the house, administering a variety of medicines to the girl, and when those wouldn't work, he went to try out other ways of treatment, but all those had no visible effect whatsoever.

Frieda's condition did not seem to improve. Oftentimes she would stare vacantly out of the window, watching from her bed as the clouds passed by, without even seeing them. No matter how hard she was trying to cheer her up, the girl's eyes were only filled with inconsolable sadness. Even though she was so young, the girl looked as if she had lived through a hundred lifetimes, and witnessed terrible things.

And she did not like her that way. She wanted Frieda to change, to leave that cocoon of passivity behind, and start living a life vibrant and adventurous. And so each time the Doctor came, she would be there, watching as he busied himself with the medicines, wishing, praying that he would eventually find a way to help the girl…

~AoGM~

"I believe I've arrived at a better understanding of the root of the problem," Doctor Jäger declared one day, conversing with Frieda's father in a parlour which had not been used to welcome any other guest ever since the girl fell to bed.

She was crouching low under a footstool in the anteroom, eavesdropping.

"You say you finally developed a cure?" the man whom the uniformed personnel of the great house would call 'Regent' said eagerly.

"Since her prevalent condition seems to be caused by a trauma suffered in the past, I suggest subjecting the Princess to _Hypnosis_. Thus, we could induce her to remember those memories in full detail again, then target them by applying a certain serum, which would hopefully erase the source of the trauma," the Doctor explained. "The procedure itself comes with no physical pain. However, the mental strain of forcing her to re-live those events-"

"Yes, yes. But is this method you're talking about _effective_?" the Regent questioned impatiently.

"The one time I applied a similar treatment proved to yield a favourable result, but since the method is still not sufficiently tried, I cannot say anything certain about its efficiency. However, I do believe it is worth a try."

"Just make sure you do everything it takes to rid her of this madness," the other man snapped, wringing his hands anxiously.

Her ears perked up when she suddenly became aware of another presence in the anteroom. Turning her head and poking her nose further out from her hiding place, she spotted a pair of spurred boots. Curious about their owner, she ventured out and saw a youth leaning against the wooden panelling. He was playing absent-mindedly with a roundish object hung on a chain, until his sharp eyes fell on her startled ones, and he formed a pistol with his fingers.

"_Bang!_"

A sudden jolt sparked through her, and with her brown fur standing on end, she scurried back under the footstool, deciding she did not like the stranger at all.

Soon, the sound of approaching footsteps came from the parlour, and the young man moved from his post to stand in the doorway.

"Ackerman…?" The Regent's voice betrayed his unpleasant surprise for receiving such an unwanted visitor.

"So, what ails our precious Princess, huh?"

"How long have you been…?"

"Don't worry, old poop," the stranger replied in a disrespectful tone. "I have no interest in your little experiments." He threw a brief glance at Doctor Jäger, who quickly bowed his head to the Regent, then left with his pink-coated assistant, a round tadpole-creature with a swirling pattern on its white belly wadding behind them.

"Wh- What do you want?" the Regent faltered.

"Tsk." The younger man walked even closer, spurs clicking menacingly with each leisurely step. "My reward for taking care of a certain business, obviously."

Fabric rustled and gold coins clinked as a small bag was tossed onto a table.

"Here. And don't you ever dare show your face in the Palace again!" The Regent was trying to sound intimidating, but unfortunately, his short figure made him rather comical in comparison to the lanky young fellow.

"You sure have a shitty way of expressing gratitude," the stranger said, claiming his reward. "By the way, your guardsmen are not nearly as watchful as the ones you've scattered to the winds."

"If you think a sewer rat like you would ever find employment in the Palace again, then you're sorely mistaken."

"The one making the mistake is _you_, My Lord," the youth remarked with a sneer. "If this mere sewer rat can cut the throat of a hundred soldiers of yours single-handed, then perhaps you should reconsider your tactics for defence."

"I don't care for your advice, Ackerman, nor for your threats!" the Regent replied, but the tremor in his voice belied his words. "I paid you handsomely, and now I want you to leave for good."

"Well, should you change your mind and be in dire need of my services again, you know where to find me." The young man began walking away, but stopped and turned to say one last thing, twirling the chain and the locket around one long finger, "And don't forget to send your heartfelt condolences to the merry widow and the orphaned brats."

With a rough, mirthless laugh, he was gone, leaving the Regent in seething anger…

~AoGM~

Once the ominously clicking sound of the spurs became far-away, she decided to try to sneak into the bedroom of her little Mistress by following the Doctor, but he was well ahead of her, and so she found the door already closed. Lifting her small paws, she began scratching at the wood and growling softly, pleading to gain acceptance. Soon, the door opened to a crack, and she looked up into the oval blue eyes of the Doctor's assistant, before squeezing herself past and into the room.

Frieda was sitting up in bed, her face as inexpressive as ever. In a gentle, soothing voice, Doctor Jäger was telling her about the treatment he had previously proposed to her father, but it seemed as if Frieda didn't even hear him. She appeared neither anxious about the procedure, nor hopeful about the possible recovery.

"It is not something I can just forget," she finally spoke, her voice sounding rough, but her tone serious. "This legacy is too important to fade into oblivion, even if it was obtained in a terrible way." She hid her face in her hands, on the verge of tears. "Now I know it was never supposed to be this way. We made a terrible mistake, and we shall suffer the punishment."

She climbed onto the bed, squeezing herself into the girl's lap, wanting to comfort her. Frieda's hands fell from her face, and she turned her pale orbs towards the Doctor, who was sitting at her bedside, alert to every word.

"Your kind was summoned to serve the True King, the one who created the Fortress," she said.

Doctor Jäger looked back at her with a startled frown, then nodded quietly.

"But even with the power of a god, it is impossible to create an eternally perfect garden," Frieda went on. "No matter how pure his ideals might have been, even those were not enough to weed out all the sins, for we each carry the seeds of evil within ourselves, and if we keep on nurturing that evil, it would become stronger, the more difficult to uproot."

The girl's voice was alien to her ears, her words too difficult for her young mind to fully comprehend. Still, she was listening.

"However, aware that our nature is made up of both darkness and light, he was able to predict our fall, and so he left us a chance to redeem ourselves."

Frieda's gaze wandered over to her bedside table, to a glass case containing three round, opalescent jewels she vaguely recognized having seen before.

"It might be ironical, but to fulfil the role assigned to me, I must forget about the knowledge I gained. But I must not lose it forever, so…" Reaching under her pillows, she pulled out a crystal and held it out to the Doctor. "When the time comes, please, help me remember…"

~AoGM~

Doctor Jäger's treatment had brought about the miraculous change everyone had been hoping for. Soon, Frieda was no longer bed-ridden, and could finally leave the confinement of her room to play with her brothers and sisters in the gardens. Her mood brightened, her movements livelier and her eyes animated with a mischievous glint, she returned to be a girl as healthy and normal as any of her age should be.

However, her small companion would soon find that her little Mistress was by no means as ordinary as any other girl…

As the visits of the Doctor became less frequent, another man would become a regular guest to the house – a man with white streaks in his slate grey hair, a thin moustache and an eyebrow quirked in quite an attractive manner, fashionably dressed in blue and purple, exuding elegance and energy. As it turned out, he came to attend to the education of the royal children.

Sitting at a long table in the dining hall, with glass bowls of water in front of them, the tutor was explaining to the five children how to transform their innate energies into a force different in nature. While Frieda was listening attentively during these occasions, her younger brothers kept on voicing their boredom, complaining and expressing their wishes of going out and catching some fish instead of continuing with these futile lessons – which, in case of all but one sibling, did fail to yield any results.

Following her tutor's instructions, Frieda concentrated on the still surface of water in front of her. First, there were only tiny ripples. Then, a splash so powerful it almost upset the bowl.

The tutor praised her, and her brothers and sisters stared as the girl made tiny bubbles separate from the body of water. They kept on floating languidly until they burst in the other children's faces.

Frieda laughed at their bewildered expressions, a sound pleasant and affectionate. But in spite of her encouragements, her siblings could not follow her example. Her brothers quickly grew impatient of trying and failing, and all Mabel could ever achieve was to make the others drowsy with her wide yawns. The smallest girl seemed to be all too young to comprehend a thing from the explanations, preferring to dip both hands into her bowl and splash water all over the table-top.

And then, something peculiar happened: the bubbles floating around no longer originated from any water from the glass bowls. They came from the breath Frieda slowly exhaled – bubbles tiny as pinheads and as big as one's own head. The children stared more at the unusual spectacle, something other than wonderment beginning to surface from the depths of their hearts, from the place where dark and ugly things dwelled.

It was Ulkin, the eldest son, who was first to condemn his sister's talent as something unnatural, something abominable. Soon, the other siblings joined in the jeering, spilling their bowls on purpose and in protest.

As water pooled in her lap, soaking into the fabric of her beautiful dress and dripping onto the floor, salty droplets from her eyes began to wash away the traces of Frieda's earlier smiles…

~AoGM~

_841: Utopia - Royal Palace_

"Marina!"

Frieda clapped her hands in delight, having just finished tying a neat blue ribbon around the small creature's neck. She perked up her ears, then tilted her head, not quite understanding.

"From now on, your name shall be Marina," the girl smiled, content with herself for finally coming up with a name for her adorable pet.

Marina gave an approving growl, letting Frieda pick her up and carry her into the study room. Mabel had been siting sprawled on a sofa, but straightened herself upon their entrance, hastily discarding the book she had been holding upside-down in pretence of reading. She went to Florina, who was lying on her belly, finding delight in a picture book until her sister yanked her up and dragged her out of the room, disregarding her loud protests.

For a moment, Frieda stood frozen in place. Then, as the child's voice faded into the distance, she walked over to a sun-lit patch on the circular rug, where books were laid out open, showing pictures coloured in every shade of blue.

"Did you know that somewhere outside the Fortress, there is a huge body of water called the ocean?" She settled cross-legged onto the rug, pulling Marina into her lap, slowly turning the pages as she told the small creature about things she herself had only recently come to know about. "And somewhere in the far North, there is a land where snow never melts, not even in the summer! That must be why the northern wind is always so cold."

The graceful form of a blue creature with white diamond-shaped spots was painted on the next page, running across the water of a pond, its slim legs barely touching against the surface, its thick purple mane billowing behind like a great cape made of fine mist and shattered light. She thought she had never seen a sight more beautiful.

"Do you like water, Marina?" Frieda asked her, quite unexpectedly.

Bristling, she sent the girl a dubious glance. She didn't like how it stuck to her thick fur, making her body feel so heavy, but her Mistress seemed to enjoy playing in the water, going out even on rainy days to splash barefoot in puddles. Wanting to humour her, she gave a slow nod, to which Frieda's eyes lit up. She pulled out a glistening blue stone from a pocket on her dress, presenting it to her. Marina sniffed at it curiously.

"This was a gift from Professor Juan," the girl explained, scooping her up in her arms and standing. "I'm turning fourteen today, but I already told Father that this time, I don't want any new dresses or dolls. Because no present can ever be as wonderful as the one I got two years ago. You."

Holding Marina in both hands, she spun round and round, giggling, until she became too dizzy to stand, and so she collapsed down on the soft rug, laughing until tears began glistening in her eyes.

That was the first time Marina understood the loneliness reflected in those bright eyes, which belonged to a girl who had to live inside the high walls of the Palace, enclosed in the narrow world of her family – brothers and sisters both envious and afraid of her talents, a mother jealous and cold, a father fretful and oppressive. There was hardly anyone among these humans Frieda could truly call a 'friend'.

Until one day…

* * *

**Next Chapter**

Nothing could be a playground more wonderful than the endless corridors and spacious halls of a palace.

In the middle of the night, the marble tiles covered in a thin layer of ice were reflecting back the dim glow of luminous fish. She was still getting used to the feel of her fin, which proved to be quite useful in lending her the balance her Mistress was lacking: her bare feet kept on slipping from under her, but the girl was giggling, finding rare joy in the exercise of her magical skills, which manifested in all sorts of different ways as time passed.

Now she could make ice out of thin air, and control it as she pleased – but once upon the ice, she seemed to have lost control over her own limbs, flailing and stumbling until she finally fell. For a moment, she became worried for her royal partner, but then, hearing the girl's laughter, she was about to join in, when they suddenly became aware of their company: a youth was standing over the sprawled Princess, eyebrows raised, his dark, disapproving eyes taking in the scene before he offered a hand.

When the Princess realised that she had been gaping like a fish landed on shore, and probably looking just as undignified, her cheeks became coloured with a blush of embarrassment. Instead of accepting his hand, she was searching for a way to help herself out from her predicament.

That fateful moment, frantic and confused, she discovered a power which, in time, would become the most precarious of all her talents…

**Star-Crossed And Fate-Bound II.**

**The Royal Heiress &amp; The Loyal Knight**


	9. Star-Bound II

Notes: A chapter introducing young Nile, as well as other main characters and some OCs (although the girl with a Growlithe is based on a minor character from the SnK manga).

* * *

**Star-Crossed And Fate-Bound II.**

**The Royal Heiress &amp; The Loyal Knight**

She was standing on her two feet again, the youth blinking his dark eyes in confusion, as if he had forgotten about his purpose of wandering the corridors at such a late hour. His outstretched hand fell to his side again, finding rest on the hilt of his sword. She recognized its colours, as well as the crest on his uniform and realized that he was no stranger to the Palace. Still, he appeared too young to be a member of the Royal Guard.

"Pardon me. I believe I got lost on my way to the kitchen," he finally admitted, shifting in his arms what appeared to her at first glance as a rugged lump of rock, until it let out a sharp, plaintive cry.

She started, then laughed out, relieved for the turn of events that allowed her to be the one offering assistance, as she had known the place better than anyone else, the Palace being her home her whole life. She was relieved, and happy for the company she did not realize she had been missing far too long…

~AoGM~

_FIVE YEARS PREVIOUS TO THEIR ENCOUNTER_

_836: Trost – Trost Training School_

Five years had passed since the day the young members of the 89th Trainee Class were accepted into the renowned boarding school for monster tamers. Finally, after five years of living and learning behind those impressive walls, they were ready to cast off their dreary brown school uniforms like a worn, grown-out shell, and don their sky blue dress uniforms instead.

The great mess hall had been specially decorated with banners and flowers in preparation for the evening ball. The ground on the training fields had been smoothed out, and that was where they had stood in neat lines early in the morning, listening to Instructor Keith Shadis deliver a less than heartening speech about their prospects for the future. On that point, his opinion apparently hadn't changed much since his welcoming speech, even as he had went on to announce the names of those who had excelled in their training. The man had never been much of an optimist.

However, the final ranking – the order of names coming up in the Top Ten – had certainly contradicted his most adamantly voiced predictions…

~AoGM~

"I honestly believed he had more sense than to stick to his impossible plan till the very end. I never expected him to actually pull it through…"

Having the room all for himself, the dark-haired boy was sitting on the edge of his bed, shirt still hanging unbuttoned from narrow shoulders. A trunk was propped open at the foot of the bed, gaping like a hungry mouth, waiting to be filled.

"But the worst thing is that now I came to realize how we'd been made to play right into his hands. And he'd been playing us for fools all along."

Surprising his azure-blue partner, he abruptly snatched up a pillow and tossed it across the room, aiming for the bed opposite, which was stacked with books and rolled-up maps, in addition to being loaded with an untidy collection of miscellaneous items. However, he soon found that allowing himself to act upon an angry impulse did little to help his mood. Never in his life had he felt so shamed before.

Second.

In spite of his best efforts, he had only come second in the ranking.

"I don't care if he's fool enough to give up his place, being content with ranking third," he went on, retrieving his pillow and attempting to repair what damage it had caused. "What I don't understand is, rather, whether the amusement he finds in embarrassing others is really worth going to such lengths."

Those were his thoughts of a certain someone he once believed to be a friend, but yet again, he had been made to question the sincerity of that friendship. Had 'he' been the one to best him, though, he could have born it with some sort of dignity. However, the blow to his pride had unfortunately been delivered by a girl. A girl one year his junior. A parentless foundling. Someone who shouldn't even supposed to attend a school so prestigious, and certainly wouldn't, had she not happened to be the protégé of the distinguished General Smith, and the man generous enough to finance the girl's studies.

"Perhaps it's only due to favouritism that she managed to win her place at the top." But even voicing his thoughts aloud brought no relief to his frustration. "Otherwise, she's really nothing special, just a little-"

"Nile!"

Someone opened the door on him, interrupting his solitary grumblings. Not even until the last day could he get used to the fact that privacy was as good as non-existent in the dorms, not to speak of polite manners. As he hastened to button up his shirt, a girl's sullen face poked through the opening, her cheeks sprinkled with more freckles he cared to count. He had to suppress a groan of extreme displeasure.

"Everyone's already down in the ballroom, hoofin' it like crazy," the girl spoke reproachfully, folding her thin arms over shiny red silk. "Are you gonna lead me in, or not?"

Nile sent the girl a dark, disapproving glower, not failing to take notice of the knee-high military-issue boots she was wearing to her formal ball gown. Her feline partner was sporting a matching deep red ribbon. Another creature, a lavender-coloured moth, was hovering over her bare shoulder.

Ilse 'Longboots' Langnar – a gentry's illegitimate daughter with delinquent tendencies, she had only barely made it into the Top Ten. And if he weren't already feeling like the victim of a bad joke, Nile was obliged to show up at graduation ball with such and unlikely partner by his side. Unfortunately, he had made a promise, and since a true gentleman always kept to his word – a principle he was careful to uphold, and in turn found it held up against him on numerous occasions – he suppressed a sigh, straightened his tie, pushed up his glasses on his nose, and grudgingly offered his arm to the grinning girl…

~AoGM~

During dinner and dance, the talk was all about the Explorers – in the past five years, the most notoriously unpopular division had experienced a sudden, drastic increase in appeal among the trainees, which was in no small proportion thanks to the tireless efforts of a boy with highly charismatic eyebrows, and a girl with rather untamed charms.

However, like always, Nile kept his distance from their talks with a kind of well-practiced haughtiness he refined through all those years, dismissing their enthusiasm.

"What is so glorious about voluntarily becoming food for the Giants, about seeking a better world Outside, when all humanity ever needs is to be found right here in the Fortress?" he would argue, aware that his words alone would never have an influence on their decision, but served rather to reaffirm his own. Exploring unknown lands while defeating man-eating monsters, all for the sake of humanity's advance towards some vague ideal called 'freedom' – his concept of heroism differed greatly from such childish pipe dreams.

Nile had made up his mind long ago, and would not be converted…

**~TRAINEE PROFILE~**

**NILE DAWK of the Tiger Lilies**

**from Karanese, Eastern Verity**

**Gender:**** Male**

**Age:**** 11 years**

**Skills:**** simultaneous command over multiple creatures**

**Favourite type:**** not partial to any**

**Aspiration:**** Military Police**

The following day – the day of the choosing ceremony – he stood in line with the other trainees and their creatures before the great crests representing the three divisions of the military, his resolve as unfaltering as it had been the first day he entered Trost Training School with Licorne by his side.

After listening to the recruitment speeches delivered by the three Commanders, Nile's gaze remained impassive as he watched his fellow trainees sifting towards the podium of their chosen branches. A handful of them were already standing before the banner painted with the red and blue rose-heads of the Rangers. A crowd was gathering before the fluttering canvas with the black and white wings of the Explorers.

Nile fixed his gaze steadily on the crest adorned by the dark silhouette of a unicorn head, ignoring the feeling of being left behind as he walked against them, as if against a tide, towards the podium welcoming new recruits to the Military Police.

Standing on the raised platform and accompanied by a drill-horned creature with gleaming golden armour plates, Supreme Commander Darius Zackley took in his lonesome figure.

"Well, this is indeed unprecedented," he remarked, his cold grey eyes briefly sweeping over the groups of fresh recruits of the other two divisions, before settling back on the boy. However, there was amusement, rather than disappointment in his voice. "Your name, son?" he asked.

"Nile Dawk, sir."

"And your partner?"

"Nidoran Licorne, sir."

"The odds of finding 'the one' are certainly favourable," the Supreme Commander murmured to his partner, then turned to Nile again, a smile of satisfaction spreading on his face, his grey eyes warming up with anticipation. "Nile and Licorne," he said. "I welcome you to the Police Brigade!"

~AoGM~

What few belongings he intended to bring along to Stohess – to the station he had been assigned to behind the innermost wall – he had already gathered neatly. With his back to the now vacant bed opposite to his own, he was packing his things away in his traveling trunk.

A Moon Capsule – he would have Licorne by his side during the journey, to keep him company.

A Sports Capsule – as a freshman, he had managed to trap a strong bug type to show off for a class competition, and named it Hercules for its strength. However, it was a bitter reminder: of the first time he had been coaxed into renouncing victory to accept second place instead. He tossed that one to the bottom of the trunk.

A Net Capsule – another bug type, but this one he had acquired through trade. It happened when, after his Cavalier had engaged in a fierce battle with the opponent's Läufer, both creatures had evolved and gone through such peculiar transformation that it had been difficult to tell which one was which. After some persuasion, he had agreed to the trade, which had initiated friendship, but not quite smothered the flames of rivalry.

A Dusk Capsule – he was quite proud of that catch, considering that he had so mercifully rescued the poor bat-creature from a tangle of messy blonde hair. It had occurred during another challenge, he remembered. That time, a test of courage: he had been made to tag along to an exploration of a dilapidated mansion in Stohess Forest, abandoned by the living and haunted by the dead. The memory sent a chill down his spine, but he reminded himself how he had stood his ground and proven before those two than an aspiring guardsman would not be scared off by creatures of the hereafter.

"What's up with all these trials of bravery, anyway?" he wondered aloud again. "As if every living moment were an invitation to another challenge, an opportunity to show off fortitude, to prove one's skills against all the rest. But aren't those just rowdy games and risky gambles?"

He wanted to have no part in that. Not ever. The Prism Scale he was holding gently in one hand was another reminder. He slipped it carefully between the pages of a hefty volume and was about to put the book away when Licorne turned his head pointedly towards the door, which was standing open to a crack. Nile became aware of the shuffling and hushed voices outside on the corridor – voices he recognized as belonging to the very two from his school memories.

"Is it really all right?"

"Just go on ahead."

"Nile!" The blonde girl pushed the door fully open. She was wearing the forest green cloak of the Explorers, which was hanging loosely like a tent around her small frame. A tiny flower-creature was nestled in her hood, and when she spoke to him, her voice somehow sounded both excited and plaintive in one breath, "We're heading out soon…"

"Well, I hope you'll have an agreeable journey," Nile gave her a stiff reply, stuffing the book into his trunk and slamming the lid shut. Hastily he snatched up his own royal blue cloak, feeling a sudden urge to be on the way.

"And I really hope it's not the last we see of you." A tall boy was leaning against the doorframe, wearing the same forest green cloak draped around one shoulder, and a pair of travelling sacks flung over his back. He was holding his partner in his arm like a stuffed teddy. Although his voice indicated nonchalance, his eyes told otherwise.

Nile gave them a sweeping glance. From the look of them, the boy and the girl could have been twins but for the two-year difference in age. Or, elder brother and younger sister in the least, only as far as Nile was acquainted with their family history, there was no shared blood between them, one being of noble descent, the other of dubious origins.

'The one worried should be me,' he thought to himself, 'about never seeing you back… alive.'

The words were on his tongue, but he never spoke them out loud. He gave a curt nod instead, intending it to be farewell.

"We'll miss you so terribly, Lapin!" The girl was crouching and – much to Nile's horror – squeezing his azure-blue partner to her chest, while the flower-bud was bouncing beside them on two little legs.

"It's Licorne." For the hundredth time, Nile was compelled to correct her mistake, and he was already tired of having to repeat himself all the time. He was tempted to give a girl a smack on the head, but said instead, "Learn to remember at last."

With a mischievous little giggle, the girl sprang up, and Nile was just as quick to take a step to the side, wanting to avoid the embarrassment of being recipient to a parting hug. Without another glance at them, he walked right past, Licorne following obediently. The carriage to take them behind Wall Uxie was waiting. He had no time to spare for useless sentimentality.

"We'll send you letters, so let's keep in touch, okay?" The girl's voice followed him all the way down the corridor, but he never looked back.

That day, walking out the gates of Trost Training School, he was supposed to feel content, elevated – instead he was feeling empty, hollowed. Of all the fears he had managed to conquer, there still remained some he had yet to face, and one of those was loneliness. Far from being indifferent whether he would see them again or not, he was rather afraid of exchanging promises.

Afraid that it would be them eventually unable to keep to their words…

_An enemy yesterday is a friend today  
So goes the old saying…_

~AoGM~

Behind Wall Uxie lay the Acuity District, home to the five grandest cities of the Fortress. Stohess was the one located to the east of the Capital, neighbouring the amiable city of Hermiha, through which they travelled until the carriage entered Stohess Forest. He strained his eyes against the dusk among the trees, wondering whether he would catch a glimpse of the mouldering walls of the abandoned mansion, but all he could see was darkness and shifting shadows. He sank back on his seat, and only looked again when the woods began to thin and light came through the windows: he could finally see the setting sun gleaming off golden roof tiles, reflecting on the waterways like molten gold. On a hill stood the gigantic bronze statue of a dragon, watching over the city…

~AoGM~

_836: Stohess – Military Police Barracks_

Early next morning, Nile was standing at attention with Licorne by his side, waiting for a senior officer to begin their briefing. Meanwhile, the other cadets were leaning against the wall, making loud conversation with one another.

"Hey, look!" One of them pointed a finger to where another of their peers was descending the staircase with a sour look, balancing a small doll-like creature in one arm. "Seems like Sleeping Beauty finally decided to stop waiting for a wake-up kiss."

Laughter erupted in the hall. Nile did not join in – it was far from him to find amusement in such petty derisions.

"Shut up, all of you," the cadet – who, in spite of his looks, turned out to be a boy – replied with an offended sniff, while trying to shrug into his jacket. He touched a hand delicately to one cheek, which somehow had more colour to it than the rest of his pale complexion. "That was a _Wake-Up Slap_, and it did hurt, you know."

All too innocently, his partner was blinking big blue eyes on him from behind a curtain of bangs. The creature had blonde bob-cut hair on its round head, and big pursed lips. If it hadn't been for the unusually pink hue of its skin, one could easily have mistaken it for a human baby.

Falling in line with the others, the latecomer stood right next to Nile, so that he not only had the opportunity to make closer observations on his creature, but on the boy's attire as well.

"Your uniform is inside-out," Nile pointed out to him, only to receive a glower from a pair of disdainful dark mauve eyes.

"So what?" the boy replied, his voice carrying an unfamiliar, distinct accent. He carefully placed his partner on the floor to smooth out the deep purple lining of his jacket, then proceeded to tug on a pair of white gloves. "What if I prefer it that way, glasses boy?"

Nile regarded him with matching contempt, then faced forward again. "Then I think you're even more stupid than you look," he said.

'_Here we go again…'_ Licorne sighed, beginning to realize that his Master's first day at Stohess was turning out eerily similar to his debut at Trost. Making friends had never been his strongest point, so it had always fallen on Licorne to make up for Nile's shortcomings in socializing with his peers. As an attempt to improve the situation, he sent an apologetic glance towards the other boy's partner, who answered with a sullen pout.

The boy was about to pin his long hair to the sides, but stopped to glare at Nile, white-blond strands falling untidily into his face. "And you know what you look like to me?" he asked, his voice quivering with repressed rage. "An arrogant prick who-"

But he never got to finish the insult: the officer and his partner finally appeared, and the cadets all napped into salute.

"Take it easy, now," the man waved a hand, fumbling with a stack of dog-eared papers. "So, you're the fresh recruits, huh…"

Nile did not think much of that man, either – the days-old stubble on his chin he kept on scratching absent-mindedly as he rattled off names without even bothering to take a proper look at whom they belonged to; the crumpled shirt of his uniform which hung untucked at his waist; the creature looking like an enormous tangle of thick blue yarn, complementing its human partner's unkempt appearance.

"Anden, Evelyn… Dawk, Nile… Gonzo, Ralph… Harleck, Quin… Sanes, Djel…"

Somehow, the things he was now seeing with his own two eyes were so far from fitting into the picture he had of the Military Police that for a moment, he was almost overwhelmed by disappointment – if only he could have shared all these new experiences with someone he regarded as worthy company, then perhaps it wouldn't have been so terrible. But then he cleared his mind of such thoughts, reminding himself that he wasn't entirely alone: if no one else, Licorne would always follow him, no matter what path he chose to take. At least his faith in his partner brought some comfort.

"Well, the numbers are not much this year, but don't worry, there's plenty of work, so we'll find use for you all," the officer assured them in a bored voice, as if he couldn't get rid of them soon enough. "If there's no question, then you're dismissed."

Releasing a collective sigh of relief, the cadets were about to dispense when Nile spoke up, "I have a question, sir."

"Yeah, go on."

"Who is going to supervise our training?"

"Who?" the officer asked back, sounding as if he found the question a personal insult. "Now look here, we senior officers are quite busy with other stuff. We haven't the time to babysit you. I presume you can find your way to the training grounds, so just go and play around until you're called to complete more important tasks."

"Are you telling me, sir, that there's no-one in charge of training us and our partners any further?" Nile asked, not bothering to hide how appalled he was for receiving such an off-hand reply.

"That's what I said, no?" The officer exchanged a glance with his partner, then narrowed his eyes on Nile in scrutiny. "You must be the one from the Trost school. That bunch always puts on such superior airs, thinking themselves so educated…"

A snort of laughter came from the boy standing next to Nile, but he kept his dark gaze steadily forward, even as the officer's attention was momentarily distracted from him.

"I don't see anything funny here besides that misshapen thing you're having on your feet," the man said, inspecting the cadet's pointed boots. "Did you escape from a circus or what? And your uniform is all wrong, do something about it."

Nile suppressed a content smirk – perhaps there _was_ some amusement in derision, after all.

But then the officer turned back to him, and said, "In fact, I've just decided to put _you_ in charge of training, along with clown boy here." He flicked a thumb towards the eccentric standing next to him, before addressing the rest of them, "Everyone, say goodbye to your idle moments, thanks to these two. In a week, I'll personally test your progress, and if I find it unsatisfactory… Well, I guess you'll see what happens then. "

A growl of discontent rose in the hall. Nile ignored it – he couldn't care less whether he would become unpopular, or even hated, for standing up for what he felt to be right. He didn't care if he was practically alone in it all.

"Now, go and practice on the fields," the officer finally dismissed them with an impatient gesture, evidently eager to have them off of his hands. "Don't be a nuisance. As I said, we're quite busy here at the Military Police."

As his creature opened the door for him with a vine-like arm, loud, boisterous voices filtered out onto the corridor, along with the rare smell of roast meat and fruity red wine.

"Sorry for the wait. Whose turn is it?" the officer said, his voice muffled by the sound of laughter, before the door slammed shut with a bang, leaving the cadets in bewildered silence.  
"What a bummer," the white-blond boy complained, suppressing a yawn and giving Nile a pointed look. "And here I was, hoping to catch a nap. Way to ruin a fellow's plans."

"You all heard what the officer said, don't you," Nile spoke to them in a calm, indifferent voice, disregarding the hostile glances directed at him. He began to walk towards the door leading out to the inner yards.

"Thanks, mate, but I'd rather pass," the other boy said around a couple of hairpins he was holding between his teeth, still trying to fix his long hair.

"It is _your_ responsibility as much as it is mine," Nile reminded him as he pushed the heavy double door open and stepped outside, not really concerned about whether the cadets had decided to follow his lead or not. After all, it served their own good to keep on honing their skills, even after they had been accepted into the Military Police. He thought them stupid if they couldn't realize that for themselves.

'_Well, being put in charge of supervising training is certainly an improvement over having to clean bathrooms,'_ Licorne remarked perkily, following his Master to the training fields, which turned out to be abandoned and in a bad need of maintenance.

"Chassoir… Hercules… Läufer." One by one, Nile released his creatures from their capsules, and they stretched their limbs and wings, content to be called out to the open air, and did not protest when he said, "Let's warm up for some exercise."

The other cadets were mostly just loitering about, some of them stealing envious glances at the boy with so many creatures to command, others minding their own business and playing games with their partners or sitting down on the mouldering stone steps. In better times, those steps served as seats for a grand Colosseum – now, the pavement was cracked, covered in dirt and overgrown by weeds, so that it was impossible to make out the field markings anymore.

The strangely dressed boy, who was supposed to take charge of the training as well, was especially conspicuous with his efforts of trying to avoid any sort of exercise.

"Fools," Nile said with a dismissive sigh, deciding against wasting his breath on them anymore.

"I don't think you're wrong to believe that it's still important to keep up with our training," someone spoke, and Nile turned to see a girl with hair in long braids walking up to him. She had a partner with thick orange fur and black stripes: a fire-breathing female guard dog. "You've made quite an impression back there."

"You don't say," Nile replied with a trace of sarcasm.

"For me, it was a good one," the girl went on. "I think I'll keep on believing that. Unless, of course, it turns out you're all talk, and share _his_ level of determination." She gestured towards where their supposed 'comrade' had in the meantime found himself a comfortable resting spot under the shade of a tree, snoozing away like he had no cares in the world.

"Don't even mention me on the same page with the likes of him," Nile snapped, his pride pulled to the surface.

"I do think you're different." The smile spreading on her face could have been friendly, but Nile thought she was still taunting him, and so it made him perplexed when she added, "We don't mind following you."

Nile looked back into her bright grey eyes, but they did not answer his unspoken question. Instead, the girl threw her ginger-blonde braids over her shoulders, then nodded to her partner. The creature stepped forward and took on a battle stance. Turning to Licorne, Nile signalled form him to do the same

"It would be a pleasure to learn new lessons from someone who ranked in the Tost Top Ten," she said. "Please, teach us through a battle."

**~ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MONSTERS~**

**GROWLITHE, the Loyal Puppy (Basic)**

**Element: fire**

**Power: Intimidate – Lowers the opponent's attack power. / Flash Fire – Flames give power to its fire-type attacks.**

**Its fiercely loyal nature makes this creature a favourite guard dog among the nobility, as well as a reliable and powerful partner for soldiers of the Military Police.**

"Wendy, use _Agility!_" the girl commanded, and her partner began warming up with rapid motions, significantly increasing her speed.

"Licorne, _Focus Energy._" The poison type concentrated his energies on raising the likelihood of doubling the damage of his subsequent attacks.

"Now, _Fire Fang!_" The dog lunged forward in a blur of orange and black, breathing fire from between bared fangs. Licorne took the first hit as the creature chomped down on one of his sensitive ears, making him flinch and momentarily lose his balance.

Attempting to take advantage of the opponent's close proximity, Nile quickly gave the next command, "_Poison Sting._"

Wendy made a swift retreat when a barrage of venomous needles shot out from the spines on Licorne's back, but by then a needle had already lodged deep into her tender paw. She staggered, the poison instantly taking effect.

"Wendy, are you all right?" the girl called to her partner in a worried voice. The creature answered with and affirmative bark, facing her opponent with burning determination. "Hang in there!" she encouraged.

"_Focus Energy_," Nile murmured to Licorne, content to know that the poison was steadily depleting their opponent's Hit Points, and the more she moved, the faster. "This shouldn't take too long," he said with confidence.

"_Iron Tail!_" Wendy charged again, her speed unaffected by her ailment, her normally fluffy-looking tail was now taking on a steely glow. Predicting the attack, Licorne jumped aside and evaded the blow.

"Finish with _Horn Attack_," Nile told his partner, feeling absolutely sure about their victory.

That is, until the girl called for a move he did not expect.

_Agility. Fire Fang. Iron Tail… _Of course, there had to be a fourth command, and he had overlooked it.

"We still have some fight left! Use _Reversal!_"

His confidence suddenly shaken, Nile watched as Wendy gathered her remaining strength, preparing for what he realized would be an all-out attack. With the creature's Hit Points already so close to hitting zero, Nile calculated that such an attack successfully delivered would indeed turn things around: what with the injury Licorne had previously sustained, he would surely be knocked out.

"Licorne!" All he could do was to wait and see how things would turn out, gritting his teeth, while his partner shifted priority from attack to evasion.

However, the energy that had been gathering around Wendy's form dimmed abruptly, and her attack faded into nothing: the poison kicked in again, eating up her last Hit Point and making her unable to continue the battle.

"Wendy!" With an alarmed cry, the girl ran to her fainted partner's side.

The tension which had been keeping Nile in a tight grip suddenly released, and he let out a small, relieved sigh.

Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that his opponent was better than he had first given her credit for.

"Here." Nile held out an Antidote to the girl. He always had a few of those on him as a precaution: poisoning was a dangerous status condition, and could become fatal if not cured in time. "Make sure the poison won't get to her Life Points."

"Thanks." The girl accepted the syringe and applied it on her partner right away, then used a Revive to restore Wendy to consciousness. Once on her feet again, the fire type winced in pain as she put a paw on the ground, and the girl examined it closely, detecting the needle and removing it as gently as she could. Wendy barked and licked her Mistress' face affectionately, and the girl nuzzled into the creature's thick fur. Finally, she stood and turned to Nile, extending a hand towards him. "So that's how a Trost graduate battles. Thank you for showing us the level of your skills and determination."

Nile was eyeing her outstretched hand in apparent indecidion when there came an unexpected intrusion.

"Not half bad, glasses boy." The boy from before suddenly appeared between the two of them, facing Nile with eyes wide and awake. "How 'bout fighting me and my sweet Rosalice?"

Deciding to ignore him, Nile went on to search for a Sitrus Berry in his item pouch, then handed it to Licorne.

"Well?" the boy pressed with annoying insistence.

"If watching us battle so kindled your fighting spirit, then why don't you just go and challenge one of the others?" Nile told him. "After all, you've also been charged with taking care of their training."

"Since it's been the _two_ of us singled out to become instructors in place of our rather inept superiors," he replied with a contemptuous grimace, hooking an arm around Nile's stiff shoulders, "don't you thing _we_ should first give them a demonstration? Just so that they know what to expect once we get _real_ serious on them."

"Fine," Nile conceded, just so he could extract himself and get as gar from him as possible: he returned to his side of the field, while the other boy took the opposite.

"Ready?"

"Go ahead."

"My, aren't we polite," the boy mocked, making a flourishing gesture with his gloved hand. "Show him how we chill out, 'Alice. _Powder Snow._"

"_Horn Attack._" Licorne leapt forward, his horn glowing as he prepared for assault. However, he failed to land a hit on his opponent: frost flowers were blooming thickly on his Wide Lens, obscuring his view.

"An ice type?" Nile watched closely as the creature called Rosalice blew out a chilly gust through her puckered lips, calculating their next move. "Attack with _Poison Sting._"

But this time, the poisonous needles missed their target completely, shooting past Rosalice and going straight for her wide-eyed Master, who ducked to the side in alarm.

"Watch where you're aiming, mate!" the boy exclaimed, straightening his attire. "Or perhaps you should consider having another pair of glasses prescribed for your defective eyesight. The both of you."

Nile clenched his fists, not allowing himself to fall for the taunts. "_Double Kick_," he said.

"Not so fast! _Confusion!_"

"What?"

Ears twitching, Licorne picked up a faint sound: it seemed to be coming from no identifiable source or direction, throwing off his senses completely. Out of nowhere, he was struck by a weak telekinetic force.

"Try _Double Kick_ again!" He heard his Master's command, but could not carry it out properly, and in the process, hurt himself badly.

"Use _Powder Snow_, my baby!"

There came another flurry of snow, and the world around Licorne faded into white…

**~FORTRESS FACTS~**

**While each individual magical creature is capable of performing a variety of moves, four is the limit tamed ones may perform on command.**

"What a sorry performance." The boy was looking down his nose at where Nile was kneeling beside Licorne's sprawled form, shaking his white-blonde head in apparent disappointment. "I expected you to be way more entertaining than that, glasses boy. Your attacks might be powerful, but even that level of strength is insufficient to make up for your shortcomings – or, should I say, _short-sightedness_?"

"I am perfectly aware of our weaknesses," Nile replied, managing to keep the tremors of frustration from his voice as he gathered up his fainted partner. "And I won't let those get the better of us."

After calling back his other creatures, Nile left the training fields, shutting out all the voices, ignoring all the stares…

**~CREATURE SCOPE~**

**LICORNE the Nidoran**

**Gender:**** Male**

**Nature:**** Modest**

**Characteristic:**** Alert to sounds.**

**Ability:**** unidentified**

**Move-Set:**** Focus Energy / Poison Sting / Double Kick / Horn Attack**

**Held Item:**** Wide Lens**

**Partner:**** Nile**

**Trivia:**** Got his nickname 'Lapin' from Nile's friends.**

"This time, luck wasn't on our side," Nile said with a melancholy sigh, but trying to make light of their defeat did nothing to convince himself to really feel that way. It did matter a lot, especially since the two of them were now officially training to be members of the Military Police, which meant that there was no room for the slightest mistake, but – as he could see now – plenty of room for training yet.

When Nile removed the Wide Lens secured around Licorne's right ear, the glass was still fogged by condensation. He turned the object around in his hand, recalling the day in came into his possession…

"_Are you sure this is going to work?"_

_He was standing in a crammed workshop at the back of a tailor's boutique in Trost, having let himself be dragged there by Erwin, who insisted that he should meet 'someone who might be able to help'._

_Nile soon found out that one of the downsides of befriending the boy was that he would have to put up with his proletarian acquaintances and their undisciplined manners._

_That time, too, that particular friend Erwin had in mind turned out to be a noisy tomboy of a tailor's apprentice, who apparently liked to spend her free time hoarding up and tinkering with all sorts of items. _

"_There's nothing I cannot fix!" the girl with the messy brown ponytail and thick spectacles claimed proudly, trying to bend the handle of a Wide Lens, only to have it snapped in half. "Oops…"_

_Nile let slip an annoyed grunt. Licorne, who had been put on display on top of a nearby workbench, was perking up his ears curiously._

"_No worries, we didn't really need that part, anyway," the girl reassured them, removing the broken handle and tossing it away into a pile of assorted junk. She began fumbling with the glass instead._

_It was painful even to watch, so Nile turned his gaze to the side, only to catch a wide cat-grin from the blonde-head, who had in the meantime put on some silly glasses. Erwin chuckled at her, but Nile wasn't amused at all._

"_There! It's done!" the brown-haired girl suddenly exclaimed, holding out an item miraculously transformed into a rather stylish monocle._

"_Wow," the blonde-haired girl gaped in awe. Even Nile was slightly impressed, but he would not let it show. Not when Erwin was wearing that smug smile he usually put on when he had been right about something, and was only waiting for Nile to acknowledge it._

"_I do hope it's not just a useless accessory," he said._

"_It should have the same effect as a regular Wide Lens, only now it's specially fitted for your lovely Lapin here."_

"_Licorne," Nile corrected her, watching with wary eyes as the strange girl patted his partner on the head. "And be careful with his poison spines."_

"_Oh, then perhaps it's better if I let you equip him with this dandy little thing," the girl giggled, and Nile took the monocle from her, carefully pulling apart the metal wire until it fit around Licorne's right ear. The creature blinked his rust-brown eyes quizzically from behind the round piece of glass._

"_Aw, isn't he cute?" the blonde girl chirped._

"_Looks like a proper gentleman," the other girl nodded in agreement._

"_Due to the effect of the Wide Lens, your chances of successfully landing an attack has improved," Erwin said._

"_That might be," Nile replied without much enthusiasm. "But we are still 10% short of the average, and that puts us at a disadvantage."_

"_I'll keep my eyes peeled, see if I can get my hands on another Wide Lens, so that I could make a pair for you to increase the accuracy," the tailor's apprentice offered helpfully._

"_Even like this, you're still strong enough to fight," Erwin went on, meaning to be encouraging._

"_What use do we have of such great strength when we have to depend on blind chance to utilize it?" Nile countered._

"_Are you that afraid of taking chances?" The look in Erwin's cold blue eyes hardened into ice._

"_I'm not like you, Erwin."_

"_You're right," the older boy replied with a haughty scoff. "I'd never be such a-"_

"_Erwin, don't say it," the blonde girl told him sharply as she appeared between the two of them._

"_Right," Erwin said, looking past her and keeping his cold gaze fixed on Nile's own. "I don't have to. We all know it, anyway."_

"_Huh? Am I missing something?" The tailor's apprentice whipped her head around, watching Erwin stride out to the front of the shop in confusion._

"_I think this should suffice," Nile said curtly as he pulled out a small pouch, tossing the payment on the workbench before turning to leave._

_However, he didn't even get as far as the threshold._

"_Nile." When the girl called to him, her voice sounded unusually serious, making him stop in his track. "Lapin is your best friend, and I can tell how much he wants to be by your side, through thick and thin. That's what you want, right?"_

"_Of course, but…" His throat was becoming tight. He could feel a hand on his arm. He did not turn to face her._

"_It's not just you," she told him in a whisper full of understanding. "Rosie and I are facing difficulties as well." Her fingers tightened around his arm, her voice becoming resolute, "Maybe the best we can do is to cover up our weak spots, but that's still a hundred times better than giving up."_

_Nile understood what the girl implied, and deep down, he agreed with her. No matter what, he would never give up on Licorne…_

**~FORTRESS FACTS~**

**Those creatures that exhibit a high level of potential, but for some reason fail to pass the military aptitude test, are separated from their partners and taken into custody by the Scientific Association. Thus, as subjects of research, they continue to serve the purpose of humanity's advance.**

"It's not your fault. I underestimated our opponent's skills. I let myself be deceived by its doll-like looks." Nile realized that his mistake was the same he had made with Erwin, assuming that a creature like that could do little harm, and he berated himself for that. "But I've never seen a creature like that before. It used a damaging psychic-type move against us, yet it can't possibly be a psychic type. Those are supposed to be under strict control, not in the hands of some misfit brat."

"Don't be so upset about losing. It was only one battle." Nile looked up to see the girl and her partner standing some steps above him. She was offering him a handkerchief to clean the glass, and Nile took it from her with a thankful nod.

"I'm not upset," he said, making his face unreadable. "I'm merely intrigued by that unusual creature he has."

"I was trying to ask him where he caught it, but he just wouldn't tell." She came down the steps to sit beside him, stretching her legs in front of her. "Still, we might find something about it in the library. I learned he comes from a village in Northern Valor."

"It's not a bad idea to do some research," Nile agreed thoughtfully. "After all, the best strategy for defeating an enemy is to find out about them as much as we can."

"Mind if I tag along?" a voice with a strange accent asked unexpectedly.

"Quin." The girl turned with a sigh, noticing the white-blond boy leaning against one thick leg of the dragon statue. "Speaking of the Devil himself," she said to Nile, not quite under her breath.

"No need to be nasty, 'Lyn," the boy said with feigned indignation, his lips curving down unhappily "'specially after you beat us up so badly."

Mildly interested, Nile gave the girl a questioning look. In answer, a proud smile was forming on her lips.

"A win and a loss each," the boy said, settling down comfortably on the other side of the girl. "Now the three of us are all even."

Nile listened in silence as the two of them went on bantering. Until then, he had not realized that they had already started making friends with one another. He had never really made an attempt to do so: looking back at his days in Trost, it had never occurred to him to see his classmates as comrades. It was as if he had always known that in the end, he would be standing alone under the flag of the Military Police.

And even though he wasn't the only one now, Nile was somehow aware that this boy and girl would never be a replacement for the other two he had left behind some twenty-four hours ago: he found himself already missing their company, and hoping that someday the three of them would meet again.

However, he did not suspect yet that their subsequent reunions would be under less felicitous circumstances…

_A friend today is also a friend tomorrow  
And so on, for eternity…_

* * *

**Next Chapter**

She was running barefoot across the lawn, dark against the midnight garden but for her long hair trailing behind like moonlight. A small flower-creature was following her, barely able to keep up, stumbling on knots of grass and roots. The girl only halted when, concealed by the shadows of the grove, a large brown bear stepped out to her path. She recoiled, the keychain in her hand jingling like bells of alarm.

"You have to help me," she spoke to the bear, looking up straight into its fierce eyes. "Please."

Iron claws pried open the locked door of the monument, and – in spite of the flower's protests – slid the stone cover from the grave, revealing the man lying stiff inside, his eyes closed in eternal sleep. The girl put her hand on his motionless chest and wept, her fingers searching crisp fabric but finding neither the faintest beat of life, nor the precious keepsake he would always wear close to his heart. She drew back, sniffing the close air of the tomb: underneath the heavy perfume of flowers, there was a faint smell – not of death and decay, but something subtle. Something familiar.

With trembling fingers, she reached out again to examine the deceased, her grey eyes hardening to steel as she discovered the puncture mark on the soft skin just above his collarbone.

And then she knew with grave certainty that the father of her dear friend had been murdered, and that she would have to live with this terrible secret without breathing a word, for fear of losing that most important person to vengeance…

**Star-Crossed And Fate-Bound III.**

**The Royal Heiress &amp; The Loyal Knight**


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